# How long should website take to build?



## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

We came to an agreement with a local company to build our ecommerce website. They were very happy to do the site and promised to move the earth to get us what we wanted and they were not cheap. That was back in June. They have got part of the site finished where we can put our designs up and sell the t shirts, but the main part of our business is selling stag/hen party t shirts which are custom designed. They are telling us that the t shirt designer is a very complex part for them to do and they are still nowhere near completion of it which is starting to anger me. I know they are using joomla to build the site if that makes any difference. Are we being taken for a ride or are they simply out of their depth with this project?


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> We came to an agreement with a local company to build our ecommerce website. They were very happy to do the site and promised to move the earth to get us what we wanted and they were not cheap. That was back in June. They have got part of the site finished where we can put our designs up and sell the t shirts, but the main part of our business is selling stag/hen party t shirts which are custom designed. They are telling us that the t shirt designer is a very complex part for them to do and they are still nowhere near completion of it which is starting to anger me. I know they are using joomla to build the site if that makes any difference. Are we being taken for a ride or are they simply out of their depth with this project?


I would have set a deadline before agreeing to have them do it. I would contact set a deadline And if not completed by that time go elsewhere..


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

They set the deadline when we agrees it. It was supposed to be finished in september!! We had to pay them half up front which is why we are hesitant to walk away from them now.


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> They set the deadline when we agrees it. It was supposed to be finished in september!! We had to pay them half up front which is why we are hesitant to walk away from them now.


How were they hired GURU.com or a freelasncer site? if so write a bad review and how much was the charge..


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

Make sure they aren't waiting on a deliverable from you. It might seem like nothing to you, but an image or a piece of information they need might be holding the project up.

Most devs are looking to finish the project and get the balance of their payment. 

If it's not getting done odds are there is a communication breakdown somewhere. Contact them and try to open a dialogue. Be open and find out what might be needed to move forward.

Are they a local company?

Can you get them on the phone or into you office for a sit down?

Good luck!


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

We are putting all the images and all our products on the site ourselves. We are in constant dialogue with them through email, telephone and calling in to their office, they just keep telling us how difficult it is to get the t shirt designer doneand it is slow process.


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> We are putting all the images and all our products on the site ourselves. We are in constant dialogue with them through email, telephone and calling in to their office, they just keep telling us how difficult it is to get the t shirt designer doneand it is slow process.


And in a few days there will be a free one released.


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

Just ask them to be honest. Can they finish it or not. If not their should be no hard feelings. Pay them any balance required for the work they were able to do and that you appreciate their attempts. Joomla can be a fickle beast and modules dont always mesh easily. Are they a marketing firm w/ web dev. On the side? Sounds like it. You need a full time php / web dev to pull this off right. Let the marketing people do the pretty stuff not the guts. My opinions. 


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

They are full time developers. Will have to talk with them after the holidays. We have missed the opportunity to sell during the christmas period which is what makes it so annoying for us.


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> They are full time developers. Will have to talk with them after the holidays. We have missed the opportunity to sell during the christmas period which is what makes it so annoying for us.


Did you ever agree on a deadline. If so did you change any requirements during the build?


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## stevem98 (Mar 2, 2006)

Our site has a custom designer, I would recommend finding someone who has experiance with flah or html5 which is what most the online designer are coded with. Setting up a ecommerce site with static products takes about 2 hours. if they havent got anywhere on the designer application, thay are probably in over thier head.


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

They set deadline of september and since then they have been putting it off through different excuses. We havent changed anything yet but we could be shortly if they dont finish soon.


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> They set deadline of september and since then they have been putting it off through different excuses. We havent changed anything yet but we could be shortly if they dont finish soon.


Tell them if the free version comes out before you get t
Yours the deal is off. And merge the free one into the work you gotten from them and make sure they are paid for what you have received already then terminate business with them. Since they couldn't deliver.


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## 7thInningSports (Nov 15, 2010)

This seems to be a common issue. We actually just had to pay to have our site re-designed after the original company decided to drop the ball. It got worse and worse from the moment they received the deposit.


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## wilf3uk (May 21, 2011)

6 months and they still haven't finished the site? At this rate your going to miss out on this years stag/hen/holiday market if you stay with them!

I'd tell them that the second payment isn't happening and then take your business elsewhere.


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## oakiiedoe (Oct 4, 2008)

it would have to be knowing how much of a presentation on whatit is that you would like to have on it... as far what s you've based your site about.


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

Do i understand this right? Joomla are bringing out a t shirt designer or did i dream that up?


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## drdeath19134 (Mar 23, 2009)

AliDec said:


> Do i understand this right? Joomla are bringing out a t shirt designer or did i dream that up?


Advance artist is programmed in joomla.


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## Stoopid (Nov 16, 2008)

Hmmmm...are they tying to build a t-shirt design program from scratch? I could understand why it might be taking so long, especially if they are doing all the programming and this might be a learning process for them. 

Is this what you were trying to get on your site?
Design your own T-shirt Joomla/Virtuemart integrated design software


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## AliDec (Sep 26, 2010)

It is like that what we are looking for but not even as detailed as that


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## rexna (Dec 19, 2011)

Hey Ali, seems like you need some information. I can help explain some.

Joomla is a light weight web app dev framework that is used to save some cost. In normal case, a professional IT company with sufficient technicians(2-3 UI developers) should be able to deliver a solution in two months if no functional requirements are added because developing a simple web site with PHP is faster than Java and .Net. They only need to write new css files and make up some new images and then apply to Joomla unless you keep changing your requirements. If you have extra functions need to be added to the project, it really depends on the complexity of your requirements. I believe the t-shirt design function you mentioned is a new function to Joomla, which means it has to be made from scratch and integrated with the framework. The possible techniques needed here are very likely to be Javascript or html5. In your case, it's probably the former. At present, the most popular development methodology should be agile. In this way, they should have shown you what work they have done in every phase. If they don't show progress properly or at least a estimated time plan, it is probably because they do not have proper developers working on your project or even not developing at all.


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## jayell (Dec 1, 2011)

AliDec said:


> We came to an agreement with a local company to build our ecommerce website. They were very happy to do the site and promised to move the earth to get us what we wanted and they were not cheap. That was back in June. They have got part of the site finished where we can put our designs up and sell the t shirts, but the main part of our business is selling stag/hen party t shirts which are custom designed. They are telling us that the t shirt designer is a very complex part for them to do and they are still nowhere near completion of it which is starting to anger me. I know they are using joomla to build the site if that makes any difference. Are we being taken for a ride or are they simply out of their depth with this project?


Joomla is notoriously difficult to build AND use as an admin...I've tried quite a few eCommerce sites/carts and the one I settled on is OsCommerce.
OsCommerce is open source plus there's literally 1000's of add-ons already available.
There's an add-on for something similar to what you described for custom products....
too bad they are so deep into the site or you could have them switch to OsCommerce.

If you paid them in full you will probably just have to deal with them taking their time.
if not tell them they're fired, pay them for the work they did so far and get a new dev/web master....
or at the very least THREATEN to get a new designer...maybe that will motivate them a little bit.

sounds to me like they just agreed to do whatever it is you want just to get the job...I wouldn't be surprised if they themselves were looking for a developer to create the custom t-shirt builder thing for you...I know ALOT of devs do that..


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