Rodent Regatta

Dean Allen is the author/programmer behind Textpattern. The first release candidate for Textpattern is not yet out. The software is in ”gamma” mode. There is enough known about Textpattern to note several key attributes:

• it’s a writer’s tool
• it’s based on PHP and MySQL
• it’s a rich environment for creating standards-compliant sites
• Textpattern’s support forums have several calls for help moving from other tools

These things make it pretty clear that the right designer could hang out a shingle offering migration and design assistance and probably be (profitably) busy for many months.

This isn’t about merely being a ”good” designer. It’s about having very specific skills. It’s not enough to graduate from law school if you’re planning to specialize in asbestos litigation. The same is true here. Knowing XHTML and CSS isn’t sufficient; nor is knowing Movable Type tags.

In this particular case, knowing how to move all of the functionality, look, feel, style and data from a Movable Type weblog to a comparable Textpattern weblog is the challenge. Once someone proves they know how to do this, they’ll write their own ticket. The business of web design gets specialized under these rules, and specialists always make more!

>From that point, they can ”name their price.” All they’ll have to do is quote dependable target dates and be willing to communicate with rookies. If someone is ambitious, it could be an outstanding opportunity.

Maybe I’m naive about what’s important to designers. Maybe this opportunity is like asking Michelangelo, ”what will you charge to paint my bathroom?” I don’t think so.

The fact is I have two MT weblogs I’d like to move to Textpattern. I’d like to make some design changes. I’d like to set up one or two ”private” test or learning weblogs, so that I can learn Textpattern, PHP, MySQL, how the designer was able to move my old weblogs, where the tags go, etc. In other words, I want to keep writing what I write, but I want a place to learn how to do things with the tools. I’m not inclined to ”experiment” with my live sites.

There’s gold in them hills – for the right person!