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When I am not lurking and posting here in Samizdata.net, I earn my daily crust selling blogging expertise to companies via The Big Blog Company. Business seems to be picking up as increasing numbers of people in boardrooms are getting more clueful about what a blog (or blogs) can do for them, and so... we are looking for a couple people who might be interested in helping out on an independent, project by project basis.

London location would be ideal - face-to-face just has so much higher bandwidth - but we would certainly consider working virtually with someone more or less anywhere provided they have broadband. Our tech guru Henry spells out here what he would like.

1. Efficient in HTML/XHTML and CSS in order to work out advanced mock-ups that we will provide, understand them quickly and 'translate' them into actual code - in the most effective and accurate way (under our guidance and with the help of our specifications of course).
2. Ideally, we're looking for somebody who can look at the mock-up, and perceive the most efficient underlying HTML/CSS structure, with as little explanation as possible - although we will provide instructions. However, it will just make things much easier if he/she can look at the mock-up and have a feel for how the code should be structured.

3. He/she should also be able to manage gracefully - again, with our input if needed and under our supervision - the slight inevitable differences that exist between the graphical mockup and the final display in the browser(s) window, in compliance with the original design.

   In any case, we will handle and provide each and every graphic element to be part of the design, and we will manage as needed any subsequent editing or addition of graphics all along the development process. Therefore, he/she doesn't really need to be a Photoshop guru, as we will spare him/her image editing work.

4. A reasonable understanding of PHP and Javascript, in order to painlessly implement scripting within the (X)HTML code he/she will produce. We're open to any kind of proposition as far as scripted features and solutions are concerned, but this is not something he/she should have to worry about on a regular basis, as we will provide the said scripts, and the instructions to implement them.
5. A swift understanding of the CMS(s) we will be using and coding for. His/her expertise on both points 1 and 2 should be enough for him/her to learn quickly whatever software we are (or will be) using, but any preliminary knowledge of the way most CMS templates are usually structured will be a definite plus.
6. Flexible enough to adapt and produce code according to our guidelines and conventions (for the most part, we’re following XHTML recommendations: all tags and attributes in lowercase, quotes around attributes’ values, closing tags, etc.).

   Ideally, we would favor somebody who codes 'by hand' (the 'Notepad School' as opposed to the Dreamweaver one) but ultimately, we'll leave it to him/her, as far as he/she can provide us with clean and optimized code, that complies with our specifications (and mind you ladies and gentlemen, someone will be watching).

   Also, I think Firefox and Web (would-be) standards are cool. No, really.

   Having said that, I know that (somewhere between) 80 to 90% of the people out there surf the web with various flavors of Internet Explorer. I have no intention to lecture them, snub them or Javascript-Alert them to change their browser (and face it: unless you're a sleazy authoritarian, you can't shoot them either) even if I could, even if they would (when asked politely)… and even if I didn't thought IE is a great browser anyway. Consequently, my policy is fairly simple: I'll stick to the aforementioned standards up to the point where it makes no sense to stick to them, and I expect the same from our code assistant.

   Producing code that fully validates is brilliant, congratulations and kiss the bride for me, but if it breaks up in 80% of the people's browsers, then as far as I am concerned it does not validate. Sorry.

   We have a job to do, and the last thing we need is a techno-bigot Code Evangelist that yells 'Vade Retro Microsoft' every other sentence. We're looking for a pragmatic professional with a solid sense of reality and who understands that between 'standards' for a happy few percent of users and Word crippled HatcheTML there is a quite wide and acceptable margin of operation.

   Life is about compromises and stuff, or so they say.

7. Any delivered code has to be rigorously and intelligibly commented, as our code assistant shall always keep in mind that somebody may have to (will) work on the code he/she produces in the future, and should be able to do so as painlessly and quickly as possible.

   In the same spirit, strict naming conventions will be used consistently for files, directories/site structure, templates and CSS selectors. We'll expect him/her to follow them conscientiously.

   If not, we'll feed him/her to the most aggressive member of the staff (no names, you know who you are anyway) for the lasting entertainment of the others and the benefit of peanut and popcorn sellers.

8. In a more general way, we're truly looking for an assistant. He/She will specifically code what we will design, and therefore will only have to care about his/her code. He/she will be spared the tribulations of decision making and will sleep blissfully at night, ye lucky son/daughter of a lady-of-negotiable-virtue.

   To that end, he/she will have to work in close collaboration with the Head of the Design Department, (who incidentally doesn't live in a jar filled with formaldehyde solution and happens to own the rest of a body), who really is a nice and easy going guy and a great bloke to get drunk with, while being someone you would definitely introduce to your Mom.

   However, like the rest of you fallible humans, he is afflicted with a limited patience, a well established (albeit fairly adaptable) conception of How Things Should Be Done in his own field (that might appear a bit 'rigid' sometimes), and in the specific context of this Call for a Coder, a strong understanding of Who Runs The Show and gets to say the last word on design/code wide issues (namely him).

   And bear in mind I should know about him, because it's me.

1. Ideally, we're looking for somebody who would be able to manage both design and coding aspects of a project, albeit with a stronger emphasis (and expertise) on coding. Let's say two third web developer, one third web designer.

   He/she can code (X)HTML/CSS in his/her sleep and is at an advanced level at least in PHP/Javascript (any extra competencies/mastered languages are of course welcome). A strong understanding of the Dark Mysteries of MySQL wouldn't hurt as well.

2. On design considerations: It's definitely okay if he/she is not the Next Big Thing on the art/graphic design field as far as he/she is able to produce good looking, elegant and professional blog/website designs -- with our input when or if needed. Maybe not a graphic design pro (remember that’s just one third) but at least an 'enlightened amateur'.

   On the technical side of graphics, my policy is: When it comes to graphics optimization, broadband doesn’t exist. If we can gain that extra 0.2 Kb on a .gif or a .jpg simply by moving the cursor one notch down while maintaining top visual quality, then go for it. There’s no such thing as a small gain.

   He/she should therefore have that sense of balance and quality demanding spirit. The first and authoritative judgment is that of the eye, as we will always be aiming at top quality graphics. We don’t want fuzzy gifs and grubby jpegs (and I mean we f****** don't), but the more we can reduce file sizes, the better.

   Having said that, the 'graphics intensive' projects will be (usually) the prerogative of the Easy Going Guy Who Doesn't Live in a Jar.

3. Although he/she will regularly answer to both the Design and the Sales department and get their validation all along the development process, he/she should be able to manage the project(s) in a fairly independent way. He/she will have to conceive and design, make structural and aesthetical decisions and create the final product. No blissfully sleep at night, but there are other rewards anyway.
4. Independent doesn’t mean 'loner', so he/she should be able to work with the other members of the Design Dept. whenever a project requests it - and in full awareness of #6, par. 2nd and 3rd of course. Ahem.
5. He/she will be a 'self-maintained cutting edge pro' in his/her field. Additionally, we do hope he/she’ll never hesitate to share the relevant part of the knowledge he/she'll gain that way, in order for all of us to move forward and stay ahead of the curve.
6. Generally speaking, we're indeed looking for a web developer with a strong emphasis on design, able to work in parallel with me on separate projects, or complementarily on common projects where both our strong points would marvel and leave the competition flabbergasted, in disarray and ultimately deeply demoralized.

   And then we would live happily ever after.

We would and we will.

Still wanna work with us? Serious enquiries and CVs/résumés should be e-mailed to pdeh at bigblog dot net.