[thelist] pricing for web sites?

[Bob Meetin]

Joel Canfield wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 8:09 AM, Nan Harbison <nan at nanharbison.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> This is excellent advice, does anyone have a good reference on how to go
>> about doing this? I have been teetering on the edge of doing this, but
>> needed a push and a source to help me!
>> Thanks
>> Nan
>>
>> You were asking, I think, about using a development server? The quick and
>> dirty method for a small developer is to simply create a subdirectory for
>> the client on your own website, do the development there, and don't transfer
>> the code to their server until it's paid for (and working.) There are loads
>> of more refined ways to do this as well.
>>
>> The quick and dirty requires thought about paths, and a handful of other
>> things. Forethought and simple search/replace scripting can make that
>> uncomplicated.
>>
>> I've rarely run into a site complex enough that this became challenging.
>>
>> joel
>>     
I do something very similar to this now.  I made up several variations 
of a backup (and restore) script that can be used on either simple HTML 
or with a CMS.  If you are working with a CMS you cruise the 
configuration file to make sure general pathing is correct.  This is 
easy. If you know in advance that pathing will change then as you build 
the content files which may include links and/or images (stored in the 
database) you make sure the links are not contingent upon the 
development path.

Someone mentioned waiting 4 months for a client to pay.  That's pretty 
coincidental as I was asked a week back by one of the firms I do some 
subcontracting for to turn off a website (after 4 months of no 
payments).   I ftp'd the website locally and removed the files from the 
host.

-Bob