Website Design Ideas

Who Owns the Code?

Who owns the code?  An important question and one that a lot of companies; especially smaller ones, never think about.  Understand what you're getting yourself into!   Ask lots of questions until you fully understand!

Who really owns the code for your website?  As a contractor we've always considered the finished product we're paid to develop belongs to the client.  The underlying code for the website is available to the client.  The intellectual skill to develop the website belongs to us.  We may use the underlying coding techniques on other websites.

We do retain full control of the code until we're paid!!!

There are different opinions on this subject as you can quickly learn through a web search using your favorite search engine.

Example:  A company locked themselves into an agreement with a design company who wasn't required to provide the client with the code or administrative access to their own website.  All website maintenance had to be done through the design  company.  The cost to add a page to the website was astronomical!  As the client grew, they decided to host their website in house but didn't have access to the code they'd paid for.  They copied the website to their in house server but had to have another designer fix things that didn't copy correctly.

Don't allow yourself to be caught in a trap where you don't control your website!  Don't lock yourself into one website design or hosting company.  Can your site be maintained or modified by you or a web designer you want to use later?  Can your website be moved from the existing hosting company?

There are three ways for you to put a website online:

• developing code
• licensing code
• open source software

Developing code can be done in-house or through a outside developer.  Unless you have some special agreement you should ultimately own all the code and content of your website.  You should have access to perform updates and monitor your website statistics.  Even if someone else maintains your website, it's your website and your material!  Get copies of the material in your possession or make sure you have access to it.

Licensed Software is usually high end software.  Many companies license their software (for a fee) provide you with the code to maintain and update your website.  There are some exceptions but this is generally true.  If you are dealing with one of the exceptions, make sure you're fully aware of what you're getting into.  How much are you being charged to maintain this software, how much will it cost to add new pages?  How much control do you really have?

Open Source Software is software where the underlying source code is available and may be freely modified.  Our recommended hosting company has a lot of open source software available for almost any purpose.  Content Management, Blogs, E-Commerce, and Bulletin Boards.  This software can be installed through the Control Panel (C-Panel) and configured to your needs through online administration panels.  The source code is available for this software and may be modified.

Web designers and Hosting companies provide a service that you pay for.  Before you commit, you should understand what to expect from the service.

Contact us for help with your website design ideas.  We're ready to help!