FAQ

So you build most websites in WordPress. What is WordPress and why should we use it?

Briefly, WordPress is a “content management system”. In English, that means that it has a back-end that allows you to easily administer large sections of your website. WordPress works with “themes” (or some people call them templates). It also works on the concept of pages, posts, categories, plugins and more – the structure is very logical and from an administration point of view, typing a new article, blog post or an About page is like writing a document in MS Word. For example, if you want something in bold, you just click the “b” button. There’s no coding necessary! This saves a great deal of time and money. Most clients don’t need to hire us again, unless they want complex changes or regular maintenance.

What can I expect when I contact you for a website?

You can expect us to ask you more questions about what you want and what you’re looking for. First, we’ll need to evaluate if a WordPress site is best for you or your organization. Then, based on the information we’ve learned from you, we’ll provide you with an estimate and if approved, we’ll send you an invoice and we’ll draw up a contract. We always ask for a deposit (between 25% and 50% depending on the amount of the job) and work won’t begin until we receive the deposit. Every web development package includes a one-hour training session. You’ll be provided with regular updates as development runs its course and depending on the scope of the project, we may send weekly reports. You also get several reviews (total amount of reviews are usually indicated in the contract). The last payment is due when the final site is delivered.

Do you offer maintenance, support, optimization, marketing, social media packages?

You bet! We offer maintenance packages to make sure that your site is always updated and backed up, we offer consultation services if you have questions about best practices or strategy, we offer e-marketing advice and we can take care of your social media needs. Contact Julie at julie@sillyrobot.ca for more info about our post-development service offerings.

Can you make sure my new website works in Chrome, Safari, and every other browser?

At the moment, we only develop for Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.6.  If Chrome or Safari or any other browser gains more market share, we may add it to our supported list of browsers.  If you absolutely want to include Chrome or Safari as a required element to your website, we can work out something for you at an additional charge (due to additional development and testing time).

Can you make sure my new website works on mobile (Blackberry, iPhone, etc)?

Not unless you specify that this is what you want.  The core development package that we offer does not include implementation or testing to ensure that the sites work on mobile.  If you want this, we’d be glad to offer you a package that will include this functionality and testing.

I want you to build me the next Facebook, the next Google, the next [insert huge idea].

Sorry, can’t do that!  Silly Robot specializes in low-cost, smaller scale solutions: small websites, starter websites, small businesses, website management and website customization.  We’re not a huge design house and we currently can’t offer our services for large-scale projects.

What does “semi-custom website” mean?

Silly Robot works with WordPress themes that have already been developed. We don’t have the resources to develop our own themes at the moment, but that will likely be offered in the future. We have development licenses for WooThemes and Elegant Themes. This means that we can install and customize one of their themes at no extra cost to you. Also, we can customize a 3rd party theme if you don’t like the ones made by Woo or Elegant Themes. We recommend Theme Forest to search for themes.

This also means that we don’t provide full graphic design services. If you already have graphics, we can move them or if you need a logo design or basic buttons/graphic elements, we can do that too. But if you want a fully custom designed background or header, you’ll have to supply us with those graphics.

How come you don’t offer graphic art services, other than basic logos and basic designs?

Simply, I haven’t found the right graphic artist to work with!  If you know an artist who is well versed in web design and web graphics and who is open to short-term contract work at a reasonable rate, please send a note at julie@sillyrobot.ca.  If it works out, and I hire the person for at least two successful contracts, I’ll send you a $50 referral bonus.

Do you offer an affiliate program?

I’m working on it!  If you want to be notified when the affiliate program becomes available, please contact me at julie@sillyrobot.ca