Questions about hiring a website developer

[Neko]

I have an idea for a website that I want to get up and running soon. Since I am basically a programmer by trade, I figured I'd just do everything my self including design and coding. As my idea has evolved and grown I have realized that I will not have time to do the work myself anytime in the next year.

Rather than putting my idea on hold, I'd like to hire someone else to do the majority of the coding for me. I have never gone through this process before and have a bunch of questions regarding accepting bids that I hope some of the people who have gone through this process on both ends of the deal could chime in on.

1) Confideniality/Non disclosure:

What is the best way to protect yourself against someone taking your idea? I assume you just have to be as vague as possible regarding the specifics of the websites function and content until you select your developer, at which point you can enter into a non disclosure agreement. Any other worries with regards to intellectual property rights etc?

2) Platform/language:

How flexible are you with regards to the platform / language the site is developed under. Do you just let the developer choose their favourite? For example say I am only familiar with LAMP type setups but I receive a fantastic offer/design that looks legit from a guy who insists on using .NET. I would like to be able to maintain the site myself so would prefer it be developed using php, do I just suck it up and let the guy do it in .NET or do I say thanks but no thanks. Probably the answer to this question is "It depends".

3) Maitenance/support:

How much maintenance /support do most developers provide after they hand over the website? ie. will most developers fix any bugs found in the system within a week, 30 days, a year etc?

4) Timeline/progress reports:

Say a developer tells you he will create your site for you and it will take one month to do. How often do you require the developer gives you updates and or beta versions of the site for you to look at. Obviously there is a balance to strike and you don't want to bother the guy every fifteen minutes, but I also don't want to find out that he is only 10% done after three weeks have passed.


4) Termination option:

Would most contracts have a termination option if I am really unhappy with the progress the developer has been making?

5) Payment:

Do you give the developer say a 20% deposit after a contract is agreed upon and then the remaining money when they finish? What about if it turns out the guy is going to take 50% longer than his original estimate, can I specify there will be financial penalties if the product is not delivered as promised on time?

6) quality of code:

Since it seems most programmers have very poor programming style, I would like to protect myself from the following scenario; A developer delivers a product that technically does what I asked for but the actual code is a disgraceful unmaintainable mess riddled with goto statements, no indentation, and variables named after the guys favourite mexican dishes. I imagine this is a very common problem but
maybe others are not as picky as me. How unusual would it be for one of my requirements to be that the developer must provide me with an outline of the "programming style" he will use that I must approve of and he must stick to during development?

7) References:

How many references would you need before you hired a developer?

8) Warning signs:

Are there any common warning signs that should set off alarm bells when I am reading someones bid?

9) Is there a book I should be reading about this type of stuff?

10) Go local or use e-lance/rent-a-coder?
Anyone have any strong reasons for hiring someone local rather than someone off of elance or some other similar site?

Sorry for the length of this post but hopefully it can generate some interesting discussion.

[johndenver]

1) confidentialiaty

dont worry about it. as soon as your site goes public everyone will be able to copy it anyways. People are way too protective of ideas in this day and age. Execution is way more important

2) Platform

if you go rentacoder or elance route you can insist on what platform because their is a big pool of talent. If you go local you should probably just go with the best talent regardless of platform, btw if u know lamp anything else will be easy for u to follow imo

3) depends, request it up front

4) i would want daily updates, generally email form

5) yes

6) ur in control, make the contract whatever you want. I know at online sites the programmer gets paid on completition, but there is an arbitrater to settle disputes

7) i would want 3 prior websites built

8) someone that seems too confident, claims to be an expert in too many technologies, anything that sounds too good to be true

9) idk

10) I would post an ad at a local CS dept first, it that fails then go elance.

PS - i'll do it for 75$/hr [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]