Eric,
Since they're talking about the UI, then they are somewhat correct.
Some of the UI use Freemarker,
some use form widgets. Also, there's a great deal of refactoring going
on at the moment for UI (by
Adrian Crumm). One of the problems with CSS styles usage, just to name
one UI problem, is that
styles don't describe the content but the UI attributes instead.
In general, the UI isn't as cleanly coded as it should be.
But then again, large variety of coding constructs in the UI are to be
expected, and are less
crippling than similar mess in the backend modules. Developers
generally place less emphasis on UI
than backend, since UIs are really much easier to correct in comparison.
If they're using Freemarker to customize your UIs, then they shouldn't
have any problems at all.
If they're using OFBiz-specific form widgets, they should buy the
comprehensive docs at
http://www.undersunconsulting.com/ecommerce/control/main , unless they
can take apart the OFBiz
framework themselves (it's open source).
I don't know about $2500 pricetag for doing up the UI alone. At double
that price, you could have
a whole new OFBiz tailored for your organization (without data
migration from legacy systems).
Look for competent and agile "hack and slash" developers, not the "we
gotta follow protocols
before things get done" types.
> but I think doubling the price right around the time that the
project should
> be completed is not good business.
Oh. Your developers should've fully assessed OFBiz in the early
stages. This tells me one of many
possible things: your contractor may not be very IT-savvy, and
couldn't assess OFBiz
himself/herself nor afford a capital outlay to hire a team to do the
assessment before he/she took
the project from you.
> using XHTML and CSS for layout
I didn't see this. Well, I must say your developers do have a point.
Why do you need it all in
strict XHTML? Why not get things working first, then have your
in-house team gradually correct the
UI to be XHTML-compliant over time?
Lastly, we need to understand that OFBiz is open source. We didn't pay
anything to use it (unless
you bought the docs!), so we really couldn't fault OFBiz for being
"oh-so-imperfect". I know, the
initial knee-jerk reaction is to ask: "Why'd they represent it as
thus?". Call it bad or
inaccurate or back-firing marketing if you want, but OFBiz is a solid
platform to work with, and
it's free.
Jonathon
Eric Crawford wrote:
> Thanks for the comments David. I am mostly trying to determine if
> these guys are just blaming their lack of productivity on the current
> design assuming that I will take their word for it, or if they are
> making accurate statements. I am getting the impression that they are
> in over their heads and they want to make excuses, using the current
> code as a reason for their case. They quoted us $2500 originally to
> design and implement the changes into the ofbiz ecommerce app. This
> price seemed lower than I expected originally, but they are now
> doubling the price after digging into the code. I am all for paying
> someone a fair price for their time and effort, but I think doubling
> the price right around the time that the project should be completed
> is not good business.
>
> On 2/26/07, David E. Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>> On Feb 26, 2007, at 11:00 AM, Eric Crawford wrote:
>>
>> > We recently hired someone to design our "look and feel" for our
ofbiz
>> > based ecommerce site. They were hired to design the ecommerce site
>> > using XHTML and CSS for layout, complying with web standards and
>> > integrate the changes into the OOTB ofbiz ecommerce code. I am
hoping
>> > that someone can tell me if they feel that these are fair arguments
>> > for increasing the originally quoted price, as the original price
was
>> > quoted with no knowledge of ofbiz or the technologies used on their
>> > part. Following are some comments that they made about the
>> > design/coding of the out of the box ofbiz ecommerce user interface:
>> >
>> > * coding is a lot messier than the documents claim
>> > * every component has a variable from headline image to tagline
>> > comments and some variables code for a line and some code for 30
lines
>> > * chaotic coding mess and the time and effort involved trying to
clean
>> > up OFBiz in an XHTML and Variable standpoint
>> >
>> > Unfortunately, my experience is in the development of back-end
systems
>> > and therefore, I am not very familiar with programming for web-based
>> > front ends so I feel like I could use the opinions of the
community to
>> > help me determine whether or not these are fair statements.
>> >
>> > Any feedback is appreciated,
>> > Eric
>>
>> I'm not totally sure I understand your questions, so I'll restate
>> them and then give my answer.
>>
>> 1. Are the standard OFBiz ecommerce templates complicated because of
>> the feature richness of the pachage? Yes.
>>
>> 2. Is it a good idea to quote a price for work that you don't
>> understand well and have never done before? No.
>>
>> 3. Is coding public facing applications different than internal
>> applications, ie do the patterns and requirements differ? Yes.
>>
>> 4. Do you have to use all of the variables and every OOTB template in
>> your final design? No, and generally people do not.
>>
>> -David
>>
>>
>>
>
>
