What follows is a simply breakdown of the many hats worn day to day:

The audience listens to the client, sometimes the message is clear, concise and to the point, other times it is passionate but vague, other times it is simply dreary. Everyone needs to have there say, as truly great clients can come out of small beginnings.

The assessor then needs to read the viability of the task at hand, and decide the way forward.  Knowing what it takes to please the customer is a skill the assessor cannot do without.  Sometimes it is better to walk away from a seemingly lucrative deal when the client needs are simply above what is practical or realistic. Trying to please everyone never works.

The negotiator cuts to the chase, turning a need into a price. These days costing web design is a black art, as the price seems to be more based around the desire than the effort.  For me at least it makes no sense trying ot compete on price, as webdesign should not be judged on cost but on result. Having said that, it would be stupid not be be price realistic.

The manager takes over, breaking the process into chunks and dishing out the work. This is not only a case of breaking the effort apart, there are the issues of timeline, complexity, etc. Knowing when to do it yourself and when to outsource is a critical component.

Then there is the heavy lifter, the person that makes the mechanics of the websites work. They put the framework together, install the CMS, set up the shopping cart, the payment gateway and the user registration system.

The designer steps into the ring, bringing light to a otherwise dreary looking result. Common sense needs to be kept in check though, as often budgets and time-lines can be blown by trying to constantly improve a design. Its a bit like gambling, nowing when to draw the line is key in walking away with the planned profit.

The showman has the job of selling the final result back to the client. The better the result math the expectation the smaller the costly tweaking will be, so getting it right in the delivery is as important as getting the execution spot on.

The tutor needs to be patient as the client is shown how to do what needs doing. Being prepared for the typical questions not only puts the client at ease, it results in real synergy.  I often find that it is the service that wins gold referrals, not the design.

When it comes to delivering truly solid work, thinking with different hats certainly helps put things in perspective. 

Being the best or the fastest or the cheapest does not work for me, and probably not for you either; rather, being consitent makes life a lot simpler, for me as well as my customers.

I also make extensive use of the template addons, like the lightbox effects, sliders, accordians and other tools that are available from these template masters.

My one frustration has always been the limited choice, as both only brings out one template a month, and editing these into unique variations does make life a bore.

It seems there is now a new and credible alternative, in the form of Morph, brought to us by prothemer. Morph is not a template, more a “template engine on steriods”.  When installed it replaces your current theme with a theme configurator, which allows you to refine virtually every element of your site design.  (Read their blog post here for the real explanation)

To make things a bit simpler they have created pre-defined style combinations called theme-lets.  Currently we have two choices but I am eagerly looking forward to seeing more from them in the coming weeks.

I have taken the plunge and have bought a subscription to morph, and will be using it in upcoming site designs.  My experience so far has been that though there is a steep learning curve,  the interface is intuitive and you can figure everything out yourself in almost no time at all.

There are lots I still need to learn, like how to use the ModuleFX and other cool customization tools, but that’s what documentation is there for.  The examples and tutorials available really gives you no excuse not to succeed.

The configurator even tells you when updates are available, which you can apply with relative ease.

Gone is the pain in manually coding sidebar and module overrides for individual pages or components. Gone is the pain in easy menu manipulations. Gone is the pain in having truly flexible page variations, and I have only been using it for one day!

As someone whom regularly runs Joomla training courses, I now have a new must-have item to add to my training content.

Here’s hoping the new flexibility will give me the creative freedom that the other template subscription services are lacking.

“Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.”

The course is split into three separate parts, on consecutive days.  This allows participants to pick the days that are suited to there particular skill level.

Training is performed hands on, using the Office Reliance training centre’s laptops and interactive whiteboards.During the three day course you will create your own fully functional Joomla website.

Course fees includes hot lunch, printed training materials as well as a CD containing all the software used during the training course.

Cost is R 750 for day 1, R 1,150 for day 2 and R 1,450 for day 3; or R 3,000 for all three days, inclusive of VAT.

Limited spaces available, so early booking & payment secures a space.

Call 044 802 0400 or email training@officereliance.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to book.

The new site uses lots more images and unfortunately the template is fairly bloated with icons, styles and scripts, but the overall load time should be manageable.

After burning lots of midnight oil the new site has finally gone live. Go visit the new Office Reliance website, then let me know what you think.