So, I received a telephone call from a potential client who needs a site updated. Original designer is taking too long to do it and owner isn’t interested in maintaining it herself. The site looks good so no need for a re-design. But, when I signed in, much to my chagrin, I found that the site was created with Joomla, a PHP program that I am not familiar with and never truly intended to embrace or learn! So, what do I do?

Let’s look at some facts and my thoughts on Joomla –

1) I am not at all familiar with Joomla so it will take longer to do updates and the learning curve will create frustration for me. I might also be asked to change things and not have a clue how to do it.

2) I chose not to embrace Joomla because it is built with templates and I feel it limits your creativity. It also has a steep learning curve. One developer told me they used it knowing the client will have problems and fixing them will create more income for the developer. IMHO, setting up clients to fail so I can generate more income is just plain wrong. Furthermore, I didn’t go to school to build websites with templates!

3) No one can learn and use every technology out there AND while it might be tempting to try, it will likely only result in mediocrity, rather than a job well done.

So, what does one do?

OPTIONS:

A – Take the job and wing it … NOT!
B – Take the job but be honest about my lack of experience with Joomla and/or my willingness to get help and from whom? Would the original developer be available to assist? If not, do I have any other resources to learn from?
C – Hire a good PHP Guru to do the job and outsource it. I already have someone in mind who does work for me routinely.
D – Suggest a makeover to create the site in regular XHTML/CSS. This will ensure I am able to make any and all necessary changes and updates.
E – Talk with the client, explain the options and let her decide if we switch or not.

Are there any other options? What would other creative people do in this or similar situations?