Back to updates about the site I’m developing.
I’ve been feverishly writing the PHP/MySQL to make this thing go. Luckily, I’m about 85% there with regard to functionality. There are a few small gaps, but they’re not mission critical at this point.
The big issue at stake now is the visual design. I’ve known since day one that I wouldn’t be doing the visual piece of this site, so thinking of how I’d get that done, for cheap, and from someone I trust, was weighing heavily on my mind.
Luckily today, the answer revealed itself and we’re off and running. A colleague of mine that used to work for the same organization I work for will be doing the design. He’ll be doing a templated visual treatment that I can use to plug all the functionality into. I’ll still need to build the HTML/CSS to make the site go, as well as plug in my functionality.
So far, according to my scope document, I’m ahead of schedule slightly. I had blocked out March for function build, April for visual design, and May for integration of the visual treatment into the functionality (i.e. the actual build). If we start visual design this week or next, we may be done by mid-April, which will put us about two weeks ahead. This is good, because I anticipate needing every bit of May for the integration tasks. Being that I’ll have to get everything working perfectly during that period, having a couple weeks of “slide time” may prove to be very, very helpful.
Luckily, this works out in a perfect arrangement. In exchange for the visual design he’ll do for me, I’ll be helping him with some coding tasks. A nice trade of services. Incidentally, this will be my first real time doing work as a “freelance” developer, so I’m understandably anxious. I’ve got no doubts, but it’s certainly a step off the road of normal into the kind of life I’m trying to build. Doing this work for him, however small, is going to be a gigantic mental leap for me, and I hope (I know) it’s going to change things pretty drastically in terms of my future attitude and apprehension about going out on my own.
I’ve still got the safety net of the day job, but this is going to be a fun introduction into what it’s like to manage your own work and be a freelancer. I’m incredibly excited…and incredibly terrified.
More updates as we progress!
