Once upon a time, Internet technology was completely in the hands of coders and programmers. Under the old school system, construction of a website worked like this:

1A programmer would create static html pages, or else build a content management system.

2 A graphic designer would then create a mock-up of the interface (Photoshop file), based on client specs.

3 The coder would then create a 'skin', using the designer's image file as a visual guide.

4The coder scores a job for life, because the client will always need them, to further develop the site.

Problems with custom coded solutions

• Increased risk of bugs: Writing code is inherently risky. Bugs, technical problems, cost and time overruns are common. Taking a completely custom route greatly increases the amount of development required.
• Longer project duration: without the ability to exploit out-of-the-box capabilities, custom-developed solutions may often require greater time and effort.
• All costs paid by the client: all development costs must be covered by the client that commissioned the work. In comparison, the development underpinning Open Source solutions is shared between hundreds of thousands of clients.
• The solution is stationary: custom developed solutions are stationary – they don’t move unless additional money is spent. Meanwhile, the broader industry continues to innovate, eventually outstripping the custom solution.

The advantages of Open Source solutions

• Built-in core functions: Open Source solutions provide built-in ‘core’ functionality (such as security, workflow, or content publishing).
• Free upgrades and bug fixes: Open Source equals shared knowledge. With globally popular systems like the Joomla Content Management system, this means that your site will always remain on the cutting edge.
• Shared knowledge: who needs a coder, when the Joomla user community numbers several million, worldwide? If you're stumped with a problem on your site, Google the issue, and chances are, someone has already faced (and solved) the same problem.
• Thousands of coders, years of development: today, the top Open Source solutions on the market boast years of development by thousands of the top coding minds on the planet. Given such pure development depth, hiring a single person to reinvent the wheel is, in our opinion, pure folly.

Case study: HelloNanjing.net

Launched as a lark in April 2009, HelloNanjing.net is now Nanjing's #1 expat portal, with 145 authentic users and an average of 200 unique visitors per day.

The site was built using the Joomla CMS (the world's most popular free Open Source content management platform) and a number of commercial components, and also a commercial template, by Rockettheme. Here is a breakdown of the commercial components used:

• Template: Affinity template by Rockettheme (USD$ 75)
• Social networking component: Jomsocial, by Azrul (USD$150)
• Directory listings component: Mosets Mtree, by Mosets (USD$119)
• Commenting system: Jomcomment, by Azrul (USD$35)
• Blogging component: MyBlog, by Azrul (USD$45)

Total cost: USD$424
Core development time: 3 days The core of HelloNanjing.net took roughly 3 days to put together, while casual development has been ongoing, since then. In total, we spent less than USD$500 for commercial Joomla extensions built by teams of coders, designers, and programmers.

Today, the site takes less than one hour to maintain, while users and HelloNanjing editors are free to submit content, blogs, listings, events, reviews, etc without need for any programmer intervention.

Conclusion

Open Source technology is deep, cheap, easy to put together, and easy to maintain.

If your company is eager to enter the modern world of user-friendly web technology, contact us, let us know your basic needs, and we will respond with a plan.