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Business

Posted by Kelvin Atawura
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Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

Wordpress upgrade

l created a theme for client last year and apparently it clashed due to the introduction of wordpress 4.0. Now l am just confused as to charged them to update the theme or as to do it for free? anyone been in this position before and willing to share their experience please?

Aurelian Spodarec
Aurelian Spodarec
7,369 Points

Hi, i have no idea but what i think is that you created it last year that worked right? and now because of the 4.0 version it crashed so its nothing to do with you . I think a charge could be taken . But i have no idea thats what i think.

Kelvin Atawura
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

hi Aurelian Spodarec yeah l am also in the same thoughts there and it making me consider making changes to my proposals in a long run. Thanks for the reply really appreciate it.

Aurelian Spodarec
Aurelian Spodarec
7,369 Points

:smiley:

bdw i have a quick question , since you mentioned about developing your own wordpress theme as i understood.
Could you tell me steps you took to make it? i really want to make wordpress themes as it would really help me and i have something in mind too but i never did anything with wordpress. The points there are mine mums points : p so i have no idea really how it works in 100% .

Kelvin Atawura
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

l started by learning on here and and tuts as well as reading books on theme(professional wordpress design and development is a good one). then started with the following process:

  1. design the template in sketch 2.code relevant in HTML and CSS
  2. code up the javascript needed which depends on you wether you are using a library or want to code them all up. But l prefer to have a single .js file to help cut down http request. 4.figure out which parts that you need to include in the templates to give that uniqueness to the theme. bearing in mind the template hierarchy as you do this as well. 5.code it up using wordpress and php best practices and standards.

just to say you can't always follow the standards with some clients as they might want some work in a way it shouldn't. so basically you have to hack it. With the theme l am on about thats exactly what happened. the client was adamant about my advice l gave him but which would have provided him with the same results.

Aurelian Spodarec
Aurelian Spodarec
7,369 Points

Thank you . I will have it in my mind .

Basicaly a basic knowledge of making a website is needed in other words and a bit more as you wrote :)

Kelvin Atawura
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

My apologies Aurelian Spodarec thought you already knew how to make websites and even more :s

Aurelian Spodarec
Aurelian Spodarec
7,369 Points

Well, i know how to make a website, i just don't know any server language . I was learning Ruby but i guess i will learn PHP as for more usage.

I do need JS and i know how it works .

Its just I'm really interested to make wordpress themes and i wanst sure what to do ,

Heres my around 6 months old website .

Some of it:

http://scr.hu/2icp/1vciy - Home and find us page

http://scr.hu/2icp/273m4 - About us and games page

Then the log in etc.. is messed up since i didn't know how to make them properly that time.

Kelvin Atawura
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

Thats good. you are in the UK right?

Aurelian Spodarec
Aurelian Spodarec
7,369 Points

Yes, right i am .

3 Answers

Sean Schlimgen
Sean Schlimgen
7,100 Points
Sean Schlimgen
Sean Schlimgen
7,100 Points

Hi Kevin,

I think it could go either way. You can chalk it off as a learning lesson, charge them, or something in between. This is why using child themes, having client sign-offs and sticking to your concerns about doing things right and not taking shortcuts.

How much time is the fix going to take? Is it an easy fix, or is this going to take hours and hours? I certainly wouldn't recommend doing it for free if it's going to interfere with other paying work or obligations, and put you in a bad position. If this is something that is just annoying and an inconvenience I would recommend doing it for free, that time and frustration spent will help you make sure this never happens again.

You could put it back on the client, and remind them they went against your advice and this is what happened. They will probably not be happy, you could offer to 1/2 the cost to fix, or charge them for the full time spent.

Personally I would do whatever I needed to make sure they were happy, while being fair to myself. Your reputation should be worth a lot, probably more than the time to fix. I make sure the client is happy and continues to say good things about me and my services, and then next time I would be sure to have a contract, or at least have them sign off anytime they are going against your advice. Hopefully you are using a contract and getting a down-payment and have a clear scope of work detailed.

Good luck, and let use know how things are resolved, and anything super custom like that you might want to install plugins to override the updating on WP.

Kelvin Atawura
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points
Kelvin Atawura
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Kelvin Atawura
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 19,022 Points

Thanks for the advice. l think some clients ain't just from hell, they are the devil themselves. today l happen to have the same issue and had to turn down a job.

l was to make a Wordpress site for a law firm but the marketing manager thinks she is amazing at SEO which she isn't if not she won't be hiring me in the first place. Sat in meeting with three people who got no idea what their conversion strategy and don't know any of the business terms that a low life like me does.

Thinking SASS is the way forward guys.

Eric Amundson
Eric Amundson
19,530 Points
Eric Amundson
Eric Amundson
19,530 Points

I think it's important to offer a clear warranty for sites you build, even if it's "no warranty" or "as-is." Communicating this clearly to your customer before taking on the job should set expectations and the value of your time and service (for both you and your customer).

At our shop, we warranty for three to six months normally, depending on size of job. In this time, we keep things updated, fix breaks, troubleshoot and optimize.

If the site breaks out of warranty, hopefully, they're already on a support and maintenance plan, but if not, we charge hourly for the troubleshooting, testing, and fixes.