Site for small architect firm
Hi, a buddy is a solo architect and wants to make a better site with a customer portal to view their docs and drawings instead of Google drive like he does now. He's been using replit (I hate vibe coding) which I advised against if he'll have customer…
Hi, a buddy is a solo architect and wants to make a better site with a customer portal to view their docs and drawings instead of Google drive like he does now. He's been using replit (I hate vibe coding) which I advised against if he'll have customer information/login. I was suggesting a WordPress with a customer portal type deal. He does want an app (which I'll prob advise against in favor of a clean mobile view). Any advice on what I should push him towards? Maybe replit is fine for what he needs and he won't get hacked day 1, or if we go the WordPress route, how much shoild I realistically look to have him pay someone (or me) to set it up on a hosted provider with some plugins
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Why does he want an app? He doesn’t want an app. People hate having to download an app for every single little thing. He just needs a website with a good mobile view, like you said. Sorry I’m no help with the rest.
I agree 100% lol. He also wants am Ai chat bot inside to help. I said no, go with a smart design and an faq
1000 for the site with a clean mobile view and basic internal pages ?
He doesn't code at all and I have limited time to help. I figured I could get him setup on WordPress and set him free
They have all the internal dashboard/portal tools?
$1000 as a starting point plus maintenance fees. Projects like this always sound simple but then when you get to the requirements analysis you end up with all these little extras that quickly add up.
I'm trying to give advice at least jn the sense of helping him do research since he has 0 idea of Whats even out there and I don't want him to get sucked into some 100/mo solution
Agreed on the app, wasn't sure if wp is better so he can do it himself
My issue for him is it's not Ai assisted coding, it's Ai coding 100% with him guessing if it's right. But thafs all valid, thanks!
WordPress was just a popular solution I know of, I haven't used it though so I can't speak on any of it. He doesn't know how to code at all and I wouldn't be writing it for him which is why I thought wp and not a framework
Why do people think everything needs an AI chatbot? Whats the bot gonna do tell people about him?
I would remove myself from that scenario and not give advice.
If I did go this route, where should I host it
WordPress is typically what I go with still. I've vibe coded many small sites with cursor ide or antigravity which also works great and my be what he needs. It's by far faster to go this route than setting up WordPress and can be secure by using a framework like astro.js on vercel which is ultimately free.
I would charge around a $1000 for a website like this Either it won't be good, or you are undervaluing yourself.
No reason to have an app. And wordpress is probably...fine... it sucks, but it's fine...
My thoughts after a decade doing this but probably will be downvoted but whatever. AI assisted coding isn’t going away and it is very good now so you should embrace it. Wordpress is outdated and unnecessary. Buying and managing multiple plugins is a pain. A custom user portal with a well designed ui/ux will give his customers a premium experience. Building this using a modern tech stack really isn’t that difficult or risky.
Custom coded is actually better, you can help patch the security vulnerability if any from replit. Benefits of custom code would be that he can get an app made eventually if he wants that easier than if it’s on wordpress. I would charge around a $1000 for a website like this, don’t know the details yet though so can be less or more.
Why WordPress though, terrible idea if you want to create a portal and then he’ll have the headache keeping the plugins up to date or deal with a malware infection. Replit, also is it necessary to vibe code this? Seems like Laravel (maybe add filament) would pretty much do this out of the box.
Before getting into the tech. I'd ask the "5 whys" to get to the root of why he wants it. Which it sounds like something you are already thinking about. Is it to improve customer experience or management overheads for the Google drive or security etc? I'd also remind your buddy that not only do you have to build it but maintain it and update it constantly and forever which is not something to overlook in terms of time or cost.
Lot of architects use Squarespace or wix
Depending on your security needs this can be done easily with some custom coded Wordpress. Alternatively full custom code but the cost starts going up
Set him on premium (or business) wordpress.com and forget about hosting, maintenance, security and speed maze; he's not developer but content creator. WP is still the best for this errand. 100$ a year and he's in saddle. Forget app, it's not worth the effort. WP sites are responsive (mobile friendly) out of the box. He reads too much, and he believes so called web gurus. He wants something more modern: DigitalOcean droplet, headless WordPress, astro.js in fronted, Claude Pro plan subscription and let him play. Astro could be turned into mobile app.
WordPress with a portal plugin is how you end up maintaining someone else's site forever! If the client just needs to view docs, a Squarespace site with a members-only page does the job.
Honestly, wix is probably what he needs.