[DanMerc]

Hello,

I have been asked by my old Headteacher to go back to my old school to design a new school website.

As well as designing the website's look, the whole website will be a custom-made CMS coded myself in PHP.

The current plan has around 60 pages planned (yes, a lot of information) and my work will involve asking the

appropriate staff to write the content, type it up if it is handwritten, and put it into the website. For current

documents like the Prospectus, School Policies, Newsletters, Letters to Parents, etc I will have to proof read and

omit sensitive information and then convert to PDF and upload.

For each curricular subject, the department will have it's own area, where the current staff listing and their

photographs will feature, along with information on the courses that the department runs, and the facility for

teachers in that department to upload files for pupils and parents to view/download.

I am also responsible for taking photographs and editing them if necessary to make them suitable for use on the web,

recording the names of everyone in the photograph in order to write to their parents seeking permission, in line

with the school's Child Protection policy.

The whole website is expected to be finished within around 6 weeks, and I may work from home or within the school

premises.

The hosting and domain name are being sorted and are not my concern.

My headteacher has asked me to come back with a reasonable price for this sort of work.

My question is, what would be deemed "reasonable" for the amount of work detailed above?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Danny

[freelancr]

Not sure, ballpark figure should be starting at least 6k I would of thought.

Originally Posted by DanMerc

The hosting and domain name are being sorted and are not my concern.

Make sure the hosting supplied to you is able to run the site, think about server platform, PHP versions, extensions you may be using, and configuration. I always find this to be a pain if relying on someone else to supply it.

[Fatbat]

Heh, that is a LOT of work to get done single handedly in only 6 weeks.

I don't understand why you would build a custom CMS when there are many out there that would fullfil your need perfectly. That job alone could take 6 weeks.

You are acting not only as the programmer but also as project coordinator, copywriter, editor, designer, etc. etc.

Do you really think you are going to get all this done in 6 weeks all by yourself? If you do, then you are much more proficient than I am.

Anyways, $50 an hour (which is only a fraction of what an agency would charge), times 8 hours a day, times 30 work days is $12,000. That is a deal and a half for this much work IMO.

Good luck!

[pgo]

I'd quote somewhere in the ballpark of $25,000. I'd go down to near $10,000 if it weren't a custom-built CMS.

I guess that's around 12,500 and 5,000 in your crazy British moon money.

[KarateRobot]

Get a specific scope document written out, task-by-task, then estimate the number of hours it will take you. Add 50% to the length of each task (see Hofstadter's Law). Multiply by your hourly rate. Give them this price. When negotiating, first try to reduce the scope, then (and only if you need the work) reduce your price if necessary.

And if you are on a 6-week time frame, make it clear that the staff shouldn't plan on submitting their content in the middle of week 5 (or the middle of week 9, which is what usually happens).

Best of luck

(Oh, and try to negotiate an hourly rate rather than a fixed cost if at all possible. In my experience government institutions tend to have lots of scope creep, which you should be paid fairly for.)

[bara]

Sounds like 100 hours or more, to do this in 6 weeks you will probably need to do this full time! so remember you need to pay tax as its a gov body it will be submitted.. so whatever u charge add 20% on for the tax man, then over estimate and if its too much give a discount at the end that builds good will!
and most importantly time frame everything, when building a website with a committee its hard to manage them !

[Mikko]

Go for a full specifications document and have it approved by your customer. Specifications should contain every single function, layout and area of the whole deal. That takes time but can and propably will save you from a lot of trouble during the project.

That's a huge project to be done in... what, six weeks? Good luck my friend and make sure you get a handsome compensation

[Synook]

Somehow I don't think you'll be able to get it all done in six weeks.

I am also responsible for taking photographs and editing them if necessary to make them suitable for use on the web,
recording the names of everyone in the photograph in order to write to their parents seeking permission, in line
with the school's Child Protection policy.

That sounds particularly nasty. How many students does the school have?

Proof-reading will also take longer than you think. So will the CMS

And aren't you going to have to provide some training so that the staff etc. know how to use your system?

Anyway, around $15,000 sounds reasonable but try to get a longer time frame...