Web Design - FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What size/type projects are within Devious Fish's scope?
I specialize in small to medium size static-content and eCommerce sites— sites with limited animation that are meant to provide information or sell items. Such sites typically have 5 - 20 individual pages, each focusing on a different aspect of the organization they represent. eCommerce sites may have additional pages, each for a particular item or class of items available for sale.If your project involves dynamic content, it is presently outside my scope. These are sites where site visitors interact, creating their own news articles or editing settings that change the site behavior.
I generally don't use animation in my work. If you'd like limited animation (for example, a multimedia welcome screen), I may take on the project and outsource the animation to someone specializing in that area— please discuss it with me. If the site involves extensive animation, however, it is outside my scope.
Will I own the site when Devious Fish is done?
Yes. As a work for hire, you will own your site and the domain name. You will receive copyright ownership, although I do not register the work with the copyright office. Licenses for images used in your site are also yours, although copyright remains with the respective image owners. You also receive a license for the web development package I use to build sites with, but I retain ownership and copyright of that package. Open source tools used in site creation remain owned by their respective creators, but can be downloaded free for use.If you choose a different development company, be sure you will be given ownership of the web site including the domain name and licenses to any integrated works. Most will, but there's a few...
Are there sites Devious Fish won't do?
Yes. I won't build sites for unethical, immoral, or hurtful purposes. However, I have no issues with adult-content sites, as long as everyone involved is consenting and content is respectful. Managing the legal aspects of running an adult site (such as maintaining records of model consents) is outside my scope.Does Devious Fish do SEO?
Yes, at least to the extent that "SEO" is real. 1 The biggest piece of SEO, if you read the literature, is ensuring sites use correct mark-up and include correct metadata— all of which should be done in the first place for technical compliance.A second part of SEO is writing well: starting with an overview paragraph that hits the main points, then going into more detail in successive text. SEO also requires using the right keywords in the text, but choosing the right words is the right way to write anyway (all of which was covered in eighth grade English). The only unique requirement of SEO is recognizing that your visitors may search for different words than those your business uses: an attorney's office may offer estate planning, but clients will be looking for lawyers to prepare their wills.
The last part of SEO involves reviewing search logs and revising the site. The initial selection of keywords and text may neglect something important— thus, it's necessary to study performance, recognize shortcomings, and make improvements.
Does Devious Fish support legacy editions of Internet Explorer?
To a degree. Since Internet Explorer 8 has joined the rest of the world in supporting the standards, focusing on legacy products that are deprecated and gradually disappearing does not make a lot of sense, and makes even less sense with each passing day.Internet Explorer 7, while not specifications-compliant, is at least in the ballpark. I continue to provide reasonable compatibility with IE7.
The limitations of Internet Explorer 6, along with its age, make significant development for Internet Explorer 6 unreasonable. While I will make sites usable in IE6, I will not make herculean attempts to make sites work optimally in IE6— since a better solution is to get users to upgrade their browser. With this in mind, when there are IE6 limitations present I often include a note only visible to IE6 users prodding them to upgrade their browser and providing information on how and why to do so.
