Recently we were asked the above question, and thought we’d make a tutorial here as the job can be DIY’ed to some extend by a site manager who is not necessarily a web designer/developer.

Scenario:

You are a native English speaker and have set up a WordPress blog/website. However, you want to publish Chinese language articles on the site and your main target audience are going to be reading Chinese.

Sure, delivering content in Chinese is not a big problem for you if you have got someone to translate your articles into Chinese. Your problem is that all of the WordPress default words and phrases are still in English. Although your audience have no problem reading your articles, some of them who don’t know any English will have a problem navigating around or interacting with your site due to the scattered English here and there.

You want your site audience to see everything in Chinese, but as the site manager, you still want to keep the back-end of your site to be in English so you can manage and administer the site as normal.

Step 1

Download a Chinese WordPress installation zip file from the WordPress China official website.

If your WordPress English installation is, for example, version 3.1.1, then you need to download a corresponding Chinese 3.1.1 installation. For security reasons, it’s good practice to keep all of your WordPress installations up to date.

Step 2

Unpack the downloaded zip file. You should see a folder called “languages” inside of the “wp-content” folder. The “languages” folder contains all the files for localizing the English WordPress core installation into Chinese.

Upload the “languages” folder using an FTP program to your server.

The path is: Your English WordPress installation > wp-content > languages

Step 3

Now you have put the core WordPress installation’s localization files in place, you need to put the WordPress Theme’s localization files in place.

If you are using WordPress’ native Themes – Twenty Ten or Twenty Eleven, you can find the Theme localization files inside of the zip file you’ve just downloaded and unpacked.

Here I’m going to use the Twenty Ten Theme as an example. You should see a folder called “languages” inside of the “twentyten” folder.

The path is : wp-content > themes > twentyten> languages.

Again, you need to upload this”languages” folder to your server following the same path: wp-content > themes > twentyten > languages.

Now on your server, the two “languages” folders are in place as shown on the figure below:

Step 4

Log in to your WordPress’s back-end and install the “One Backend Language” plugin. Activate the plugin and make sure that English is the default language for the back-end.

Step 5

Find a file called “wp-config.php” on the server, which is inside of your WordPress installation. You need to edit the file directly on the server.

Open “wp-config.php” and search for: define('WPLANG', ' ')

define('WPLANG', ' ');

Change it into:

define('WPLANG', 'zh_CN');

Save the file and you will see the front-end of your site is now truly Chinese and the back-end is still in English.

Get an understanding of the overall scope of the problem you are trying to solve, and then give a price for your time and the resources required to effectively solve that problem.

OK I’m sorry that wasn’t a real formula, and I know it wasn’t the simple answer you wanted; but it’s important to charge for the full process of getting the finished website delivered, rather than seeing sites as some sort of canned product which is priced by, say, number of pages, or lines of code. A site of a certain size could cost one figure for client A and different figure for client B, because the process of getting to the finished product will vary depending on factors like the assets they are providing and any constraints imposed by an existing site. If you use this approach as your basis for pricing projects then you can’t go wrong. The most important aspect in giving quotes is being able to extract as much useful information as possible, right from the start. So learn what you personally need to know for the way you work and refine your info-gathering technique for effectively getting this information – it’s an essential skill. Asking the right questions to begin with is fundamental in building an effective website and gaining a satisifed customer.

If you are unable to get to a point where you understand the overall scope and requirements, that’s probably an indicator that you should seriously reconsider if you are the right person for this project. The web “Industry” (for some reason, calling it that never feels right) is highly fragmented and the range of skills people have don’t always fit the requirements for every project – no matter how well connected you are with other people of different skillsets. Although it’s wise to continually push your boundaries, if it’s clear that you aren’t the best person to do a good job then the professional thing to do is politely decline the work. When considering how much of a “buffer” you need before taking the plunge into freelancing, you should factor in the possibility of having to turn down projects which are not suited to you – taking them on could end up costing you more in the long-run.

Obviously though most potential clients would like an approximate figure up-front so that they know if it’s worth compiling all of the information that you need to make the site. In this situation, don’t let the prospect of a new project blind you – you can give the client one round of broad questions that give you enough to formulate a rough price range for them (and remember to let them know that it could change depending on details). Therefore one of the first things you need to learn when working for yourself is not only what to say to get business in, but what to ask to make sure you can do a good job for them. Saying whatever they want to hear to win the business will likely result in dissapointment all round, and reputation is paramount if you want to get your name around. Accept that some people may be able to undercut you and remember that you are charging for your experience and passion, and not just for your hours.

If the main cornerstones can’t be established, then it is likely the project will require a greater degree of intricacy and close management at a later stange and this extra time needs to be factored into your initial figure. A great deal of uncertainty and limited information when clients first approach is something that will discourage us from taking a project on because we don’t have the capacity to provide extensive consultancy in every case – but if you do then you need to price for the uncertainty. Another important factor you need to consider when you have scoped a project is your deposit. Alongside your commitment, the commitment by the client is essential in the progression and success of the project so formalising this by taking a percentage deposit at the beginning is standard amongst professionals. Again, understanding the scope of the project will help you here in calculating how much of a deposit you will require.

So there you have it. Pricing is fundamental to delivering a good solution so it needs to be done properly right from the start. Even if you are volunteering to make websites to build your portfolio, it’s still a good idea to gather all of this info to practice formulating what you would charge if money were changing hands. All projects should have a value if they are to have clear objectives.

The web is all about communication and sharing, so this is our outlet where we put out information and useful things we’ve learned about the business of making websites for people. We would encourage you to leave comments and hope you’ll leave with a better understanding of who we are and how we work. But first, let me explain the first thing that I always wonder about a company: where does the name come from?

In 2004, two young Directors-to-be were at university in Leeds studying an MSc in Creative Technology. An open-ended assignment question paved the way for stumbling into the areas of Ubiquitous Computing and Pervasive Technology. Anyone researching these subjects will quickly see that this real-world science is where many great Science Fiction writers get their inspiration. looking at the history of the modern computer, the first wave of computing could be described as the era of huge mainframe computers which were each used by many people. The second wave is the Bill Gates-inspired “computer on every desk” era where each human uses a computer. The “3rd Wave” is the era we have already entered into where there are many interconnected devices functioning for every person. As the efficiency of the devices and the amount of data they have increases, they become more pervasive, ubiquitous, “intelligent” and invisible to us.

For a sci-fi geek with a hungry imagination it was intoxicating stuff, and an addiction which has kept hold to this day. Years later, deciding what this business should be known as was a no-brainer. Welcome to 3rd Wave Media.