Advice from coders to potential clients...

[pcoskat]

I'm not a coder, so this will probably be my only post in this forum...

What should potential clients be looking for when hiring coders to create custom mods for vBulletin?

Are there any skill sets that are specific to vBulletin?

What questions should I ask? How should clients evaluate whether or not a price is fair for a mod they are interested in having custom written?

I am curious because I need to hire at least one advanced coder to create some mods for my board. It's a large and active board, so whatever is written needs to perform well under heavy use without putting undue strain on my server.

Until now, I've been able to find existing mods, and track down people to install them, but I really do need some custom work.

Before posting projects on eLance or Hire-a-coder, I'd like some 'evaluation guidelines' to follow.

Thanks!

[hambil]

Well, php and sql skills are a must. vBulletin itself is pretty complex, so obviously experience with vBulleting is a big plus.

As for payment, most programmers make pretty good money - a typical complex mod is probably worth thousands of dollars, but my guess is you'd get it done for a lot less than that. Figure 30 - 50 dollars and hour, and if they are charging less than that it's a fair price - though it still may be too high for you, and you might find cheaper.

If you are going to pay competitive rates, get a resume, and references.

Voice your concerns over stability and performance to whoever you interview. If there answers don't satisfy you don't hire them.

[pcoskat]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but are 'coders' the same as 'programmers'? Can I use the words interchangeably, or are there subtle differences between the two?

[hambil]

Originally Posted by pcoskat

Sorry is this is a dumb question, but are 'coders' the same as 'programmers'? Can I use the words interchangeably, or are there subtle differences between the two?

Yes, coder = programmer