A little while ago 45n5 was asking for a new layout for his site. He wasn’t looking for anything coded, he wanted the PSD file for it so (I would assume) he could code it. I thought this was perfect since I’m not strong in the world of coding and I love to design - so I took a shot at it.

His contest was up at SitePoint and I noticed (why I didn’t before.. I don’t know) that there were quite a few contest running for an un-coded template for their sites. I thought this was manna from heaven - and why not give this a whirl and make a few extra dollars doing something I LOVE TO DO! It just seemed to work - and I went about it, and submitted to 3 other contests. It was with these other contests that I started to see a trend.

… a not-so-nifty trend.

… if you are a designer.

1. You enter your template for their review based on their requests in the contest.
2. You sit and wait to see if the contest holder has any suggestions.
3. You get a response on some “tweaking” needed for the template
4. You re-tweak the site and think this should now be it.
5. You get a response from the contest holder that he/she is now looking for different colors/shading.
6. You start to feel like your being played a fool.
7. Other entrants base their “new” designs on yours, because yours is the only one that “worked”.
8. Focus shifts from your design to theirs.
9. They win the contest.

Yes, about 9 nifty steps… although I think I left out the majority of “re-do’s” on those templates - after 4 I tend to lose interest. Either you like the design - or you don’t. If it’s a case of aesthetic design tweaks - that can easily be done AFTER the contest has been won by me… or whomever. Don’t go asking designers to make so many changes and then not choose them. What a WASTE OF TIME!

But the bad thing about some of the contests here, was that the designers kept coming back over and over and over again with new tweaks and changes and more changes - some were up around 9 re-designs and still coming back to “win” their $200. I think at some point they should have just said - enough is enough. But they don’t. I’m not sure if they realize as a designer how screwed they are. Wasting so much time - never guaranteed if they’ll win it or not. Wasted time - on some who are actually quite talented.

I see it all the time in my real world job - and there comes a point where it’s just too much. You have to take a stand and say enough is enough and set up limits. Because I think in the end you just have a screwed over feeling.

I guess what I’m saying in this little rant - is that if you put on a contest or participate in these contests, there has to be a certain amount of give and take. If you hold the contest and love a design - but maybe need different colours or a tweak in the layout - do it after that person has won the contest. I think the response would be super positive and easily done.

As a designer - figure out when to say enough is enough and layout the ground rules - like changing things on the template once. Won’t sit around and “tweak” it 19 times only to lose the contest to some goob who shows up in the last hour with a design based off yours with all the tweaking and then some… so frustrating.

So I guess for me I’m laying low in that area - as fun as it was, it just became so freakin’ frustrating.

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As I wrote the other day about being in a bind when it comes to building out a PSD to WordPress - due to my less than stellar programming skills… I wondered if I wasn’t just the only one with this sort of problem. I’ve seen loads of work show up on those job boards out there where people are looking to outsource their work. It’s definitely the way to go. I’m getting more and more into it - kind of taking the edge off the unknown and diving in head-first.

But there are moments when I’m not so rich shall we say and I’ve got things I want to do, but the money is always holding me back. Great ideas, cool designs… and they sit around… and sit around - and either the opportunity passes or I lose interest because it took too damn long to implement. It’s really very frustrating… and I’m thinking I’m not the only one.

So the other day I pushed on with barting services. I have this site - and I have the ability to offer advertising here for anyone who knows how to convert a PSD to WordPress - shiny widgets and all… and I’d give them 3 months of advertising for it.

This sort of bartering… if I found the right person for the job - who didn’t mind this sort of deal making… I mean could ultimately lead to a pretty cool relationship down the road if I take my templates and use them for the beautifying factor of other sites… where people pay for them… which means… an opportunity to make money. See the possibilities are there.

But I mean - would we all be more productive if say we didn’t give cold hard cash - but instead had a chance to offer other things… like online advertising in lieu of cash. Of course I realize that cash is the way to go. It speaks volumes. But it also silences creativity for those of use who aren’t always flush with it… cash. I’m personally a bit tired of not being able to do more online. Maybe I’ll need to take a course or two on coding… read more… understand it… and then I could become a designer AND a developer. Because seriously there is money to be made being able to do both.

Would you be willing to barter skills or would cash be what speaks the most to you?

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If you’re stuck like me on where to start on building up your own WordPress layout = being able to make your own layout… check out WP Designer. I’ve seen Small Potato’s work around the ‘Net with his free templates for WordPress, and finally swung by his site.

Holy crap people!

Small Potato gives a great tutorial on how to get started with your own wordpress layout - which helps those of us (ok, me) who knows “kind-of” how things work but not really… he gives an explaination of codes…. ya! and I think he does in a way that we can all understand - coders or non-coders.

I printed it out and read it. I think that helped me get a grasp on what he was doing - and then I went to the computer and went step by step with him. In 2 1/2 hours I had the template up on my demo/practice site. Very basic layout - nothing to flashy, but damn it I understand now! LOL.

He gives great tips as to where to look for CSS code and how to validate your site. How nice is that. Things I wouldn’t have thought of… he’s got it. So if you’re curious as to how to get started… Small Potato has a great tutorial.

How to build a WordPress Template… Click Here.

Once again… if your into learning something new, check it out. If you’re looking for people who know what they’re doing when it comes to making a template for you check out Cory Miller and Adii. Honestly good rates if you’re looking for a Template-to-Wordpress conversion.

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Yes, even after all the headaches of trying to figure out how to encorporate a WordPress layout with the template I’d built. I decided to go back to the beginning. The whole - dive in feet first - wasn’t working for me and in the end frustrated me to the point of writing for a bit of help yesterday.

The reaction of the post… well, was to be expected.

I know that time is money… work is money… and if you don’t have the money you do end up a bit out on the fringes wishing you were one of the big players… or even a moderately successful one who has a bit of extra cash around to fund future projects.

I suppose yesterday I had a bit of a panic. I wanted a template on a site - because I’d worked hard on the template and just wanted it all to be nice and pretty…. and then I realized that I came a bit short on the programming/css end of things. Sure I can muddle through most of it, because it’s there and I have an idea of what it does… but the intimate details of coding - well, I just don’t have it. At least not yet…

So I posted that I’d offer 3 months advertising in exchange for help with converting the template to Wordpress. The response… honestly didn’t surprise me.

What no one wants to make this deal??? What the hell!

Adii wrote back and posted here, and he’s right. You want a good design, you’re going to have to pay for it. My dilemma is that I’ve not got that kind of cash. Which is bad on my part - I guess that is where - saving my online earnings comes in. So I worked with what I have… which is ad space. As of yet, no one has taken a nibble. I guess it’s still early… and all that… but maybe I’ve come to the conclusion that if I want it done - I have to pay for it. So either I learn to code on my own or save my pennies and get someone with a bit of experience to do it for me.

I guess in my little search to find help - I’ve come across two people who took the time to respond and drop me a line - I totally appreciate it. Thanks

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I’m a bit frustrated at the moment. I’ve been working on a new layout for a site. I’m excited with the new layout… but I’m frustrated by the whole “conversion to a WordPress template” deal. The matter of the moment is that I’m stuck.

I’ve been browsing the web to try to find psd to WordPress conversion sites - and knowing that I’d have to pay a pretty penny for it - I’m just thinking I’m a bit screwed at the moment. I’ve found Cory Miller’s conversion site here. Which I’m sure might work out if I had $500 to spend…. which I don’t.

I surfed around and found PSD to XHTML… not quite what I was looking for but Adii uses them and I thought they’d be handy for anyone looking to convert a PSD to a nice CSS layout.

But that still doesn’t really solve my dilemma…

I went by the DigitalPoint forums and found someone willing to do a PSD to Wordpress conversion for $50. I’m not sure I want to go this route though. Just because I’m not really sure about the trust thing.

So I still have my dilemma.

I’m hoping that someone out there might have a better solution that what I’ve come across so far. Any suggestions?

Now my situation is this… I don’t have a lot of extra cash - and I’m looking to barter the deal. Lets say you can code a mean PSD to WordPress template for me. I’d be more than happy to exchange that fabulous skill for say 3 months of advertising on this site. For me that would be a text link - that is going for $54 via Text Link Ads per month - so that would be in a round about way paying you $162. No it’s not $500, but it’s a pretty good deal if your the type of person with advertising in mind, and want to get your name out there.

If you can code a mean Wordpress blog - all pretty widget capable… and would like to do a deal - drop me a line in the comments.

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