The idea behind trulyevolved
Written by Jim Bonham Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:58
Welcome to trulyevolved. Earlier today I working on my first Magento theme and reading an article in .net magazine (Called "Practical Web Design" outside the UK). In February's issue, there were some intriguing pro tips for 2008 that I want to bring to your attention. In doing so, you might understand why I created this site, chiefly to stimulate a wider discussion on employing Magento in the real world.
We're not robots churning out shops
Simon Leadbetter explains in the mag that...
"So many young designers want to emulate a design style they've seen, or try out some new technologies, but if your website is supposed to sell CDs, it should sell CDs. You need to understand the basic building blocks of what we do, no matter what technology is applied to it"
Magento is a fantastic solution, but as developers and designers we can't lose sight of what out clients are looking for. As well as creating a shop to meet client needs, it's also our job to project the right messages and branding to the consumer.
It's so much more than the functionality alone that we need to be occupying our development time with. This seems an obvious point to make, but it's all too easy to get lost in the Magento forums and get hung up on minor technicalities. I hope this site can offer these different perspectives.
Open Source eCommerce has evolved, so now it's our turn
A lot of designers and developers have found Magento and love it, but haven't had much experience of running eCommerce projects. Others may have been doing it for years with osCommerce or bespoke solutions. Whatever we have done, we all need to keep learning/relearning.
Magento gives developers real flexibility and freedom to create, so shouldn't we match the evolution of open source eCommerce by evolving our own skills? By keeping an eye on the Magento Forums and sharing our working methods (hopefully on this site), we are some way there. I point to number 8 in the .net 10 top tips for 2008...
"Get Trained - Learn everything you can, including the basis for good communication, not just specific skills related to software."
Every client/project is different
Managing projects is never easy, but I wonder what particular issues people have when developing Magento-powered sites. For example...
- how can we estimate the time it takes to develop (not to mention the fees)?
- how can we plan and draw up milestones and deadlines?
- what order should we actually do things in?
- how can we best understand and work with the shop owner to get the right solution for them?
Of course every project is different, but that doesn't mean we can't share our personal experiences. There's a lot of this type of content in magazines (including .net) and online, but not so much directly relating to Mangento-powered shops.