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"Michele Davis" <michele -at- krautgrrl -dot- com> wrote in message news:223502 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
> Years ago when everyone was using WinHelp there was a standard of xpages
> = 1hr. of time = xhourly rate. Something like 4 WinHelp pages per hour.
I remember only estimates of about 1 1/2 days per printed manual page. Of
course, that included research, writing, editing, etc.
>
> Is there some formula for redesigning a web site? Say 1 page per hour or
> something like that? By redesign I mean cleaning up the spelling errors,
> creating a css, applying the css and redesigning the look & feel.
>
> I am horrible at bids, I wish I could just say I charge $x/per hour and
> however long it takes me, that's what it takes me. Oh well.
>
Spelling and grammatical errors would be, what, a fraction of an hour per
page, depending on how much content is on a page and whether you are
required also to apply a style guide.
Applying a CSS should't be much more than a site-wide search and replace
function.
Ah, but creating a style sheet and redesigning a site, there's where the
work really begins.
Take a redesign first. What's the site for? Who are its users? And most
important, what are the users' goals? This research must be done.
Then you have to find out how well the current web site meets users' goals.
If it doesn't, or doesn't well, then you have to know enough about
interaction design to actaully create a design that works. All this is an
iterative, multidiscilinary process.
Of course, the time needed depends also on how big the site is and how many
things users can do on the site.
Coding a style sheet is a different beast entirely, especially if it's a
site destined for the Internet (and not an Intranet) where the site users
may enter using any of the variety of browsers and versions, configured any
number of ways. (I went several months with my new computer without
installing Flash just to see how many sites simply were totally
inaccessible.) Making the site look similar (or at least work the same) for
users with Netscape 4.x is a particularly taxing CSS coding job.
--
--
Chuck Martin
User Assistance & Experience Engineer
twriter "at" sonic "dot" net www.writeforyou.com
"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. The day
may come when the courage of Men fail, when we forsake our friends and break
all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day! This day, we fight!"
- Aragorn
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
- Gandalf
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
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competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
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