So I have offered to build a friends website for free to gain experience.But I dont know the exact process involved.Should I use Wordpress?Should i buy them a domain?Please help.
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Get your friend to buy the domain, otherwise you’ll be on the hook for renewing the registrations forever.
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- Buy a domain. you pay for that once a year, price depends on the TLD (.com, .net, .org…)
- Get a server. there are tons of offers out there, it depends on what serves your needs best.
- When it comes to writing the site, you’d usually need a front- and backend. frontend is javascript,html and css while the backend can be PHP,Node.js or even JAVA. again it depends on what you’re building.
I would happily try to give as much information and assistant as possible in this thread or PM. Good luck 
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Hi wadie
Thank you so much for your reply.
I cant find a way to pm you -that wouldve been ideal though.
Anyhow, I know front end coding.even have a website.but i dont know how to.implement it in real life from a clients point of view. Im referring yo the life cycle of web development.what happens aftet youve written the code? How do you provide results to your client?
Also, is thete anyway you can incorporate a wordpress theme into your website without using wordpress in your url? What do the clients want when they ask you to use a certain wordpress theme? Do they want their website on wordpress too? If not, then how do you use a wordpress theme to build a site for them?
Not sure if i make sense.
Click on user. When profile comes up, click Message button.
I think. I’ve never actually done it.
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I don’t entirely understand your question, but yeah you can obviously use a Wordpress theme on a local installation for example without having Wordpress in the URL.
Go here
And click on message to pm me, because I have a feeling it’s going to be a long conversation 
Is the website currently on wordpress.com?
As far as I can understand, it is either that or you installed wordpress in /wordpress dirctory in the root.
To install wordpress:
- Download wordpress from wordpress.org
- Unzip contents in root directory // Make sure you see index.php in the root
- To install theme read here : http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-install-a-wordpress-theme/
I hope this helps.
As someone who’s been a freelancer for seven years and built multiple sites for people, it typically works like this:
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You tell them how much the domain and WordPress hosting is going to cost for a year.
***It’s best to go with WordPress because they can easily take control of the site and it’s content once you’re done. All you have to do is run down what they should and shouldn’t touch and passing off the site will be a breeze. -
IF they agree to the costs, you purchase everything and build the site. At the very least you should update the client weekly, if not more.
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Once the site is done, you give them the admin login info, teach them how to post content or at least give them a written how-to list of steps, and move on to the next job. (This would also be the step where you get paid. If that is the case, DO NOT give them login access until they’ve paid. It’s also usually best practice to either get at least half upfront or utilize escrow. )
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Someone recently asked me to update a Wordpress site (add a shopping cart and class registration system), and I admitted I’ve never used Wordpress before, that I was interested in doing the job, but it would be best if they could find someone who’s familiar with Wordpress. Would it be so easy that I was stupid to even say all this? Kind of kicking myself now 'cause I really do need real-world projects to add to my portfolio.
It depends on how new you are. It’s best to always be honest, but I’ve lied to get work when I had no idea how to do the project too. You have to know yourself and your ability to learn/problem solve in order to make that judgement call. If your gut said not to, that was probably the right thing to do.
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That doesn’t sound too difficult (The shopping cart).
Class registration system? That sounds tricky if there isn’t already a plugin for that.
There’s a WordPress plugin for everything. That’s why people use WordPress ^^
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I was looking at the other business sites attached to this guy’s name, and they are all really shoddily done. Not sure how this should influence my decision to offer to update his Wordpress site.
When choosing clients, it’s all about how much they’re willing to pay and how many conditions they have. The people who pay less will always be a bigger pain in the ass to deal with than people who pay more. If they’re paying you peanuts, you can rest assured they’re likely going to be the most difficult people on the planet to work with.
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Might be true, but can’t say it’s a rule of thumb.
In the freelance world, it’s a definite rule of thumb. There are exceptions as with all rules, but they’re few and far between. The truth is that most people looking for cheap labor are complete a-holes through-and-through. The person paying you $1000 will wait a week without hearing anything and be understanding if there are any delays. The person paying $50 will nag you to death every few hours, nitpick the design and try to get you to make the most complex all-inclusive site he/she can.
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aroojmumtaz,
Make sure you have a detailed to-do list of everything you need to do to build and launch your site.
There’s several reasons why it’s important:
0. You have a clear picture in your mind, what exactly you have to do.
- It will help you to talk to the customers and explain them what should be done and how long it will take;
- It will help you to stick to the schedule;
- This is exactly what your customer will pay for, no more, no less. Also it will help you to set the price.
Your to-do lists will be different from each other, depending on your customer’s need.
I use evernote, kanbanflow & trello for that.
Good luck & happy coding!