How do I hire a smart guy?

[Wulfgen]

I'm a little non-plussed - I have a php based upload script (has been working fine for over 11mths) that notifies the client/admin when a user uploads a file - now the same client wants to add more upload fields and a progress bar (way way outta my league)

Anyway so I go about the web via google and yahoo looking for source I can buy that will do the job - here's where it gets nasty - I find about 8 of them - all of them require you to buy the code before you find out it either 1) has no support 2) is a downright b***tch to install (still with no help) 3) after you figure out how to get it to work - it corrupts the files it uploads (thats a big downer, especially after you've spent hours getting the dang thing to work in the first place) or you have to wait up to 24hrs for a reply thats in extremely broken english - this is annoying as the website says the exact opposite - grrrr

So now you know where I'm at - a lot of $ for nada - how or where do I go about hiring a smart guy to add those functions? If I knew how to do it - it would have been done 6 days ago.

Am I outa line asking that question here? I mean no disrespect, but I don't know where else to turn...my trust in what these sites have to say, is now at an all time low.

 

[jpadie]

you cannot use this forum to hire forum members. recruiters etc are definitely out of line.

we can help with specific issues. for example i can tell you that an upload progress bar is never going to work with php unless you (i) fake it; or (ii) write your own extension for the php kernel. you can make it work with perl, using javascript + .net and/or using an IE only client and javascript. none of these are php or real solutions for multi-browser applications. faking it is easy though, as is providing a spinning ball or somesuch while the upload happens.

Now, having said the above, i've seen lots of google hits for things like upload bars for php. even one from an article written by Rasmus Lerdorf. so i'm prepared to be wrong but i bet somewhere he is using a non php hook into apache or the OS. here's the article:

http://progphp.com/progress.php

adding upload fields is a straightforward exercise in php and html. we can certainly help you with this if you'd care to post your problems. Alternatively i used to use an abstraction layer called HTML_QuickForm which made adding fields (with validation and processing) very straightforward. I even 3/4 wrote a further abstraction layer for quickform that would allow you to keep the form schema in a database and add/alter/subtract fields through a web UI. I posted about it in this forum but noone was interested so I abandoned development. if you're doing a lot of form work then i would recommend HTML_Quickform (it's in the PEAR repository - pear.php.net). I've written a tutorial for it which i'd be happy to post if there is interest.

but to answer your question: the place where i go to get smart guys to code solutions for me when i don't have the time myself is rentacoder.com. i have always had great results even if the coding itself is not up to the standard that i would have wanted in an ideal world. once you have the code, you can tighten it up as you want.

 

[chrismassey]

Hey,
I have just implemented a similar system on my website except I haven't finished the upload progress bar yet. I have one browse file input then everytime a file is browsed for it lists it beneath using javascript, then the user can check and remove any files before uploading. The max number of files that can be uploaded can be set (therefore could potentially be unlimited). Although I have found that this method has a couple of flaws, its really smart nonetheless. (

http://the-stickman.com/web-develop...-multiple-files-with-a-single-file-element/).

As for the progress bar I found a number of free scripts, MOST OF THEM INCOPORATING MULTIPLE FILE UPLOADS, therefore they are all in one packages. If you need any help implementing a system written in PHP, or finding one which has been pre-made, then I would be happy to help.

Chris

 

[Foamcow]

Might I suggest you try a site such as Rentacoder to get someone to do this for you?

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[jpadie]

foamcow:
i think that's what i recommended in my last para. glad there's an endorsement for them.

 

[keepingbusy]

You could also use phpjabbers.com - Used them several times in the past three months. Outstanding service (and low cost)

 

[Foamcow]

Sorry jpadie, I completely overlooked what you had said there.

I used Rentacoder for a while. Normally just picking up jobs when I needed some quick cash but it was never really worthwhile considering exchange rates and when competing with Indian/Eastern European coding teams.

I do have a clean 10/10 rating there though ;-)

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Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
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[Wulfgen]

OK Mr. jpadie
I can post the code here that I currently use - but at times when I've asked other questions I'd get a slap on the wrist telling me not to do that and this forum is for help etc, etc,

Can I do that without someone getting on my case about it???

 

[jpadie]

i've looked through your previous postings to this forum and i can't see anyone objecting to you posting code. that must have been another forum or another board.

please post only the code that is relevant to the issues at hand. some people on this forum will provide you with a coded solution or paradigm, other times you'll get a manual reference or a hint about a direction to take.