There are a handful a veteran #Ravens who must step up if they are going to beat the #Bengals. Full game preview here with the keys to the game
https://youtube.com/watch?v=t2gCYKk4ekE&is=2orXVdPWZzr5ELrV
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136 results for “prereview”
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ICYMI: Meta delays website-crawling terms to Nov 20 after publisher complaints: Self-Serve Ad Terms move three weeks too, yet Meta's UK preview page still showed 30 October that evening. Will regulators force changes before November 20? https://ppc.land/meta-delays-website-crawling-terms-to-nov-20-after-publisher-complaints/ #Meta #DigitalMarketing #SEO #WebCrawling #Advertising
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Let me show you some magic ✨
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Commissions are open!❤️All info there: https://safiruart.carrd.co/
Google Forms: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1O7BAVAZZ6Dlj5WPCU0V6ykUPfHKAAtmlUfQleppO_RQ/preview
8 slots
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#furryart #furryartist #furry #furrycommission #commissionsopen -
United States Grand Prix: Formula One qualifying – live
By Philip Cornwall️ Updates from Austin; start 10pm BST, 4pm local️ Giles Richards’ preview | Mail Philip
#FormulaOne2026 #FormulaOne #Motorsport #Sport #TheGuardian #PhilipCornwall
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Jetzt #Zwischenstille und den Aguilera de Heredia auf die Ohren. 🎧
#Klassik
#Barock
#classicalmusic
https://fediserve.de/preview.php?v=XLO4o7LsU04 -
Status of IT today:
1) Tried to download an image from my own #GoogleDrive account. Multiple times.
2) Download failed. Can't tell if Google problem. Browser problem. ISP problem.
3) Opened preview.
4) Took screenshot.
5) Fuck everything contemporary IT... -
#MissKittyPolitics I have taken position that nobody can take anything from me. Only law I need to follow is #human #rights. If I do, I will fulfill every #scripture ever written. As #Thyself. I'm going to give you a preview of a book that is going to get delivered in #web3. "The Plan Bible". #gm
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Introducing: CompilationTesting!
Test code that should produce Swift errors, warnings, fix-its, and notes.
https://www.pointfree.co/blog/posts/234-beta-preview-compilationtesting
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More than 600 #exhibitors from 14 countries and regions are expected at the #HongKong #International #Optical #Fair 2026, where #smart #glasses, eye-care #technology, #fashion-forward frames and #products for older #consumers will take centre stage. Organised by the #HKTDC and co-organised by the #HK Optical #Manufacturers Association, the 34th #edition will run from November 4–6, 2026, at the Hong Kong #Convention and #Exhibition #Centre, #China. https://chinaexpohub.com/hong-kong-optical-fair-2026-ai-glasses-preview/
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This InDesign Welcome Kit Presentation Template Doesn’t Just Look Good, It’s Also Easy to Customize
E-Type’s Welcome Kit Presentation Template, a 16-page InDesign file built at 1080 x 1920 pixels for screen presentations, is one of the more complete attempts, I have to say.
This review works from the template’s official preview spread; the full 16-page layout is exactly as E-Type ships it, plus the technical specifications are listed on Adobe Stock. No slides here are rebuilt or restyled. What follows is what’s actually in the file, read page by page, and what a working designer can expect once it opens in InDesign.
Download the kit from Adobe Stock.Please note that this template requires Adobe InDesign to be installed on your computer. Whether you use Mac or PC, the latest version is available on the Adobe Creative Cloud website—take a look here.
Adobe InDesign Welcome Kit Presentation Template by E-Type. Download the kit from Adobe Stock.What Is a Welcome Kit Presentation Template, Exactly?
A welcome kit presentation template is a pre-built slide system that agencies and freelancers send to new clients at the start of a project. It usually covers who the studio is, what the engagement includes, and what happens next. Unlike a pitch deck, it isn’t selling the work. It’s confirming the work after the contract is already signed.
That distinction matters for how you judge this template. A welcome kit doesn’t need to persuade anyone. It needs to look organized, feel personal, and get out of the way fast. E-Type’s version is designed specifically for that narrower job.
Inside the 16 Pages: A Breakdown That Matches the Index
The deck opens with a cover slide, then an index page listing six sections: About Us, Case Study, Partnerships, The Team, Manifesto, and Feedback. That index isn’t decoration. Every page after it maps directly to one of those six categories, which is rarer than it sounds in template packs this size.
The Full Page List
- Cover (“Welcome Kit”)
- Index
- What We Do
- About Us
- Objective (mission, vision, values)
- Case Study
- A full-bleed quote slide for a client testimonial
- Partnerships (four-client grid)
- Creators (team intro)
- The Team (four-person photo grid)
- Manifesto
- Offer (a pricing tier table, four rows)
- Brief Project
- Feedback
- Statistics (three metric blocks)
- Get In Touch (contact details)
Sixteen slides, zero filler pages. Plenty of template packs pad the count with duplicate layouts wearing a different color. This one doesn’t do that. Every slide earns its spot in the sequence.
How the Template Is Built: What the File Structure Tells You
Both listings confirm the color system runs on a swatch palette rather than hardcoded fills, which means updating brand colors should take minutes, not hours. Change the swatches once, and the pink, coral, and mint blocks update across all 16 pages. That’s standard practice for a well-built template, though plenty of template packs skip it and force a manual hunt through every frame instead.
The listings also confirm photo placeholders sit on their own layer, separate from text and background elements. That layer separation is what makes InDesign’s Content Grabber tool useful here: click an image frame, and the grabber lets you swap the photo without disturbing its crop or position. None of the preview photography ships with the download. That detail trips up first-time template buyers constantly, so it’s worth repeating.
Adding Motion With the Animation Panel
Because this template targets screen presentations instead of print, the Animation panel (Window > Interactive > Animation) is where it earns a second look. Anyone comfortable with that panel can stagger headline text so words appear in sequence or fade a photo in gently rather than having it snap into place. Neither effect is built into the file by default. You add both yourself, per object, through motion presets and per-frame delay settings.
If you’ve never touched the Animation panel, budget an extra hour to learn it. The template doesn’t walk you through that part.
Where This Welcome Kit Presentation Template Wins and Where It Doesn’t
The typography does the heavy lifting here. Bold, condensed, uppercase headlines against a warm off-white background give every page a consistent editorial weight, even before a single word of real content goes in. Pair that with free fonts linked directly in the included help file, and you avoid the usual font-licensing scramble that kills momentum on a Friday afternoon deadline.
Where it struggles: the Offer slide assumes a four-tier pricing structure. If your agency sells one flat retainer, you’ll either delete three rows or stretch thin content across a layout built for density. The Team and Creators slides also assume four people. Solo freelancers will need to rebuild those grids from scratch rather than just deleting a box.
The Six-Screen Trust Arc: A Framework I Use for Judging Welcome Decks
I’ll be direct about this: the Six-Screen Trust Arc isn’t an industry term. It’s a shorthand I started using this year after comparing a dozen welcome kit presentation templates side by side, and it’s useful enough to name here.
The idea is simple. The first six screens of any client-facing welcome deck should move through a specific order: cover, index, who-we-are, what-we-do, mission, and proof. Skip the proof slide, or bury it past screen ten, and the client starts asking questions the deck should have already answered. E-Type’s template follows this arc almost exactly, placing the case study at position six. That placement alone suggests whoever built this has sat through real client onboarding calls.
A second shorthand worth naming: the Narrative-to-Data Ratio, which is just the proportion of storytelling slides (About Us, Manifesto, Feedback) against pure data slides (Statistics, Offer). This deck runs roughly 70/30 in favor of narrative. That’s the right ratio for a welcome kit. A sales deck should flip it.
Who Should Buy This Welcome Kit Presentation Template
Small design studios and solo creative directors get the most value here, specifically teams onboarding clients onto retainer work rather than one-off projects. The vertical 1080 x 1920 format also fits directly into screen-share presentations and Instagram Stories exports, which agencies increasingly use for onboarding content.
Skip it if your pricing model doesn’t fit four tiers, or if you need a landscape deck for a projector presentation. E-Type sells a separate landscape version of the same system, worth checking if that’s your format.
Quick Reference: Welcome Kit Presentation Template Specs
SpecDetailDesignerE-Type (Adobe Stock contributor)FormatAdobe InDesign (.indd / .idml)Page count16 fully editable pagesDimensions1080 x 1920 px (vertical, screen-ready)FontsFree fonts, linked in the included help filePhotographyPreview only, not included in the downloadColor systemSwatch-based, editable in one clickAnimationManual, via InDesign’s Animation panelBest forAgency and freelance client onboarding decksWhere to Find It
The kit is available on Adobe Stock. Pricing on Adobe Stock runs through its standard template licensing, either a subscription credit or a single-template purchase, so check current terms before buying.
Download the kit from Adobe Stock.Frequently Asked Questions
Does the welcome kit presentation template include the stock photos shown in the preview?
No. The preview photography is for display only. You add your own images to the 16 placeholder frames after purchase.
Can I edit this welcome kit presentation template in Canva instead of InDesign?
Some versions of E-Type’s welcome kit templates ship with a Canva file alongside the InDesign version. Check the specific listing you’re buying, since not every variant includes both formats.
Is the 1080 x 1920 format good for Instagram Stories or LinkedIn carousels?
Yes. That vertical ratio matches Instagram Stories natively and works well as an exported image carousel for LinkedIn, though you’ll need to export each page individually.
Do I need InDesign experience to use this template?
Basic experience helps, especially for the animation panel. Swapping text and photos requires almost no InDesign knowledge, since the Content Grabber handles image replacement without disturbing the layout.
How do I add the fade and sequential text animations to the slides?
Open Window > Interactive > Animation, select a text or image frame, then assign a motion preset like Fade In or Appear. Set the delay for each object manually to control the sequence.
Browse WE AND THE COLOR’s Templates category for more.
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#AdobeInDesign #AdobeStock #brandKit #InDesignTemplate #presentation #presentationTemplate #welcomeKit -
Aus Anlass ihres heutigen Geburtstages – Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (durch Heirat wurde sie Herzogin von Sachsen-Weimar und Eisenach):
„Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1739-1807) - Divertimento in B-Dur (c.1780)
Composer: Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1739-1807)
Work: Divertimento in B-Dur (c.1780)
Performers: Luigi Mаgistrеlli (clarinet); Claudia Brаccο (piano); Enrico Grοppο (viola); Anna Sofia Grοppο (cello)
Divertimento in B-Dur (c.1780)
1. Adagio 0:00
2. Allegro 5:16
Painting: Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1722-1789) - Herzog Karl I. und Herzogin Philippine Charlotte von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel mit Familie (1762)
Painting: After Johann Ernst Heinsius (1731-1794) - Anna Amalia von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel“
#Klassik
#classicalmusic
#OTD
https://fediserve.de/preview.php?v=L6UvykHxWM4 -
Previews, Pre-Season, Betas, and Opening Nights
There’s an old saying in the theatre biz. No show is ever really ready on opening night. It’s a cliché that has seen it’s time pass in the big money commercial circuit because so many producers run lengthy preview weeks, charging essentially, but not quite, full price to avoid reviewers publishing their criticisms until the show is officially open. The preview process began lengthing after the days of out-of-town tryouts came to an end, although we see that still happening occasionally as larger regional theatres will debut a work, allowing it to still be worked on, hoping that it will one day make it to Broadway.
There was a famous production of Eugene O’Neil’s play Hughie, starring and directed by Al Pacino, that ran in previews for almost a month before finally opening. That led to a critic from Daily Variety breaking the only after opening night embargo a week early since the announced limited run would end up with less “real” performances than those in previews after the show officially opened. The show would go on to extend the run a couple of times.
In smaller circuits the cliché still lives on, simply because of a lack of resources to run many preview performances in front of audiences to really gauge reaction before it officially opens. A show can look great in final dress rehearsals, but it’s never complete until there’s a paying audience of strangers sitting in the dark to tell if it works or not. The ever-present lack of time still breathes life into the cliché in ways that offer both hope and anxiety behind opening night curtains around the world.
In the professional sports world teams play in a pre-season or spring training games that don’t matter while the players tune up for the real thing. Although in most of those types of meaningless games it’s really more like watching players audition than it is anything else. Occasionally a budding star emerges, but that’s atypical. Early “real” season games that do count (at full price) are when teams find out what they have, leading knowledgeable sports viewers knowing when it is time to pay real attention to a team’s chances or not.
Those are two interests in my life. I’m a theatre professional (and geek) and I watch sports. Another is my interest in tech. In tech we have betas. Or we used to, when that was mostly for software. Now we’re just in previews, pre-season, or perpetual betas forever for both software and hardware. Which is somewhat understandable, yet weird, perhaps ironic, but ultimately a joke on the paying public, given the pace in which things are always advancing in tech, including the pace and price of advancement.
We never seem to reach opening night, opening day or the end of a beta period in tech. Instead products and software are released incomplete, occasionally followed immediately by “leaks” that suggest the company that just took your money for it’s latest best product ever is working on fixing the things they knew were wrong for the next version when they released the product you just payed for.
But you’re going to love it.
It’s easier to swallow with software. It’s a bigger pill that sticks in the craw with hardware.
It used to be that betas were for working out bugs. They still are to a degree, but now they’re just the next show in a never-ending season, or the latest minor-league call up. But you still pay full price for the game when the team needs to put a not ready for the big leagues pitcher on the mound just to fulfill its obligation to play the announced season.
You can argue that there’s nothing wrong with the way things have evolved in tech because the financial equations are different. It requires a substantial upfront investment to create, produce and deliver new technology. You’d be mostly wrong, but you can argue it. Most of the costs in show biz happen upfront before a show even gets close to an audience, hopefully a large enough one in a long enough run to recoup the initial investment. It is a different equation in sports.
The release of Apple’s iPhone Duo strikes me as an interesting entry in this evolution of consumer dynamics. Soon, perhaps too soon, before the product was released to the general public, leaks popped out that Apple was working on tweaks to two of the major criticisms of the device for the next generation — a larger model and adding FaceID. That followed criticism from reviewers.
In general, most tech reviews I read, watched, or listened to made it very clear that the iPhone Duo was a first generation device with some rough edges that wasn’t for everyone, especially at the entry price. I can’t judge those reviews myself since I haven’t seen the product, but they mostly seemed very similar and to my mind fair. Some, sounding more like theatre critics or sport writers I’ve known, were more harsh, delivering criticism that might have prompted a closing notice being posted before intermission or an early game benching.
Here’s where my three interests diverge a bit. In theatre the show can close early if it’s savaged or not enthusiastically endorsed by reviews. In sports a pro team can retool a bit by trading or signing free agents midseason. Tech companies have to play out the run with tech hardware until the next generation is ready.
Given the leaks following the reviews I find it sort of funny that I’m in a place of feeling a bit sorry for the carriers that are offering great deals on the iPhone Duo subsidized by a three year contract. That’s a tough sell to anyone who pays attention, though admittedly most won’t if they’re hot to trot for the new shiny folding phone from Apple.
It’s my hunch, and only a hunch, that Apple knew these criticisms were coming. Even so, it’s one thing to prepare the next version hoping to make changes that advance a platform, it’s another to make them in reaction to negative press once the product is unveiled. It sets you up in the next round for being congratulated for fixing what was wrong the last time.
In the theatre if a joke doesn’t land, you can replace the joke in previews. In sports you bench a player or fire a coach. With tech hardware it’s not that easy changing things before it becomes a punch line. (See the Vision Pro.)
My second hunch, only a hunch, is that the iPhone Duo will eventually become a successful part of Apple’s lineup and get past what feels like a rough opening. I don’t think it will enter into Vision Pro punchline territory. Critics of all human endeavors need something to criticize as much as companies need to produce the next thing. It’s a symbiotic relationship that feeds on itself. And the always distracted general public has short-term memory bordering on amnesia.
It’s my wish that tech companies, like theatre companies and sports teams, would figure out a better path to the success they seek. Sure, you might be able to fool some of the people all of the time. But for the most part folks figure it out on their own. Some of the time. And that some of the time is what everybody on the producing end of things counts on.
Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to this blog if you care to. You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.
#Apple #iPhone #iPhoneDuo #reviews #Sports #Tech #technology #TheaterOfTheMind #Theatre #Writing -
Toune pour une baleine. A tune for a whale. Un petit goût trad pour votre fin-de-semaine. A little taste of Québec trad for your weekend.
https://boutdubanc.com
https://claudemethe.comVIDÉO ENTIÈRE / FULL VIDEO
https://youtu.be/FBpWCdVq3Dg#quebec #musiquetraditionnelle #fiddletunes #folklore #tradquebec
EXTRAIT / PREVIEW
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I’m building EatNeat, a mobile app that helps people turn a nutrition plan into a manageable routine—before “What should I eat?” takes over the evening.
A lot of meal-planning tools focus on creating a plan. I’m focused on what comes after: remembering it, finding something practical when hunger clocks in, and tracking what you ate without turning dinner into a spreadsheet assignment.
EatNeat is still a prototype. Here’s what’s working, what I’m figuring out, and how the mascot Bitey provides moral support.
The core loop
The app is organized around a simple cycle:1. Create a meal plan or bring in an existing one.
2. See the day’s meals and get reminders at their scheduled times.
3. Browse meal ideas that match selected constraints.
4. Capture or mark a meal as eaten.
5. Review progress over the day and across recent days.The Today screen brings schedule and progress together. Meals can be marked eaten when their scheduled time arrives, and progress includes estimated nutrition metrics. The user stays in control; the app helps without handing out gold stars for lunch.
AI as a helper, not the whole app
EatNeat has AI-assisted flows for personalized plans, meal recommendations, recipes, and optional photos. Requests include selected filters and nutrition targets. Practical constraints are requirements: an “under 15 minutes” meal can’t hide a 40-minute oven step, and equipment filters should match the actual cooking method.
Food photos are optional and handled separately from meal text. Without a photo, the meal still appears with a bundled animation or illustration. The recipe shouldn’t vanish because its glamour shot is late.
The app can call configured service endpoints. During local development, some AI flows can call Gemini directly with a development environment key. A production app should route requests through an authenticated server and keep provider keys off the client.
AI nutrition values are estimates. EatNeat is not a medical tool, and the prototype does not treat a missed meal as a failure or make clinical recommendations.
Local-first state and reminders
Plans and meal logs are stored on-device with AsyncStorage. Writes are debounced and serialized, and local notifications remind users at planned meal times—because remembering breakfast shouldn’t require remembering to remember breakfast.Private meal-log photos stay on-device. If a user uploads a plan photo for parsing, it goes to the configured plan-reading service, with that made clear before upload.
The stack
The current app uses:- Expo and React Native for the mobile app
- Expo Router for file-based navigation
- TypeScript for app screens, state, services, and UI components
- React Native Paper for a small set of interface components
- Reanimated for navigation and interface motion
- AsyncStorage for local plan and log persistence
- Expo Notifications for scheduled meal reminders
What is still a prototype
The accountability feed displays sample posts and does not publish to a social service. Some preview screens use illustrative nutrition data. The app doesn’t ship a backend, so server-based AI features need a configured endpoint. For now, the social circle is supportive and fictional.I’m also breaking larger screens into focused components. The Today screen’s progress visualization and schedule calculations now live outside its route file, making the daily flow easier to evolve.
What I’m learning
The most useful decision so far: keep the basic habit loop independent of AI. Meal ideas work without generated photos; logging works without image analysis; plans can be reviewed when a service is down. A flaky model shouldn’t get veto power over lunch.AI can add convenience, but a slow request or missing key shouldn’t block the everyday action. The meal still exists even if the pixels don’t.
EatNeat is under active development. I’m currently refining the meal flow, reminders, and progress UI while building toward a more complete, privacy-conscious backend.
If you’re building a habit-focused app, I’d love to hear how you decide which parts should depend on AI and which should keep working on their own.#buildinpublic #mobile #showdev #software #coding #development #engineering #inclusive #community
# Building EatNeat: Meal Plans, Gentle Reminders, and a Supportive Mascot -
Meta's personal AI agent, Muse, launched in Japan on October 23, 2026 — its first market outside North America.
That one sentence matters more than it looks. A month ago, the proactive-agent race was an American story. Now it has a second country, a second language market, and a clear signal about where this contest is actually fought: not just on model quality, but on distribution geography and connectors.
What launched in Japan
Muse debuted in the US and Canada in September. Japan is the first expansion beyond North America, and it arrives on all three surfaces that matter: iOS, Android, and the web. Basic functions are free, with subscriptions unlocking more.That is the shape of the whole category right now. Free to try, paid to go further, and rolling out country by country rather than everywhere at once. If you are building anything that plugs into these agents, the rollout map is your roadmap — your users in Tokyo just joined your users in Toronto.
The field, in one sweep
Muse did not land in an empty market. Within the last few weeks, every major lab has put its own proactive agent on the board:Anthropic's Claude Duet opened as a research preview on October 21, 2026. It is waitlisted, limited to US Pro and Max subscribers for now, built on Claude Opus 5.5, and it leans hard on connections: more than 6,000 connectors, a morning brief, and — the detail developers should steal — it asks before it sends, pays, or deletes anything.
OpenAI's Dots launched in late September for ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium users, bringing proactive, multi-step work to the largest existing chatbot audience.
xAI's Grok Bot has been out since August 11, built around multi-agent teams rather than a single assistant doing everything.
Four labs, four agents, four different bets. And one shared pattern: none of them is simply open to everyone yet.
Why this is about geography and connectors now
Here is the honest read, based on the announcements and coverage rather than hands-on testing: the models are no longer the differentiator. Every lab has a strong model. What differs is who can reach users, where, and what the agent can actually touch once it gets there.Japan is Meta's answer to the reach question. Duet's 6,000-plus connectors are Anthropic's answer to the touch question. Dots' bet is that the ChatGPT audience itself is the distribution. Grok Bot's bet is that teams of agents beat one generalist.
For developers, that reframes the work. The winning integration is probably not "support the smartest agent." It is "support the agent your users already have, in the country they live in, with the tools they already use" — and design your permission model like Duet does, where the agent checks before it does anything irreversible.
That last point deserves emphasis, because it is where this whole category will win or lose trust. An agent that sends, pays, or deletes without asking is a liability with a nice voice. An agent that asks first is a colleague. Duet's rule — ask before send, pay, or delete — should be the default every developer demands from every agent they build on, regardless of which lab wins.
The honest catch
Every one of these agents is still gated. Muse is in three countries. Duet is waitlisted and limited to US Pro and Max subscribers. Dots sits behind Pro and Business Premium plans. Grok Bot aside, "proactive AI for everyone" is a headline, not a reality — yet.So do not rebuild your product around any single agent this week. Build the connector layer once, keep the permission checkpoints yours rather than the agent's, and watch the rollout maps. The lab that reaches your users' country with the connectors your product needs will pick your winner for you.
What to watch next
Three things, in order. First, which country Muse enters next — the pace of that map tells you how fast Meta thinks it can scale this. Second, whether Duet's waitlist opens wider, and whether its connector count becomes the number every rival has to match. Third, whether any lab drops the gating entirely and goes for raw reach. The first one to do that changes the race overnight.The agent war went global this week. It just has not gone universal yet — and that gap is where developers still have time to get ready.
Based on the announcements and coverage: MacRumors (October 21, 2026) on Claude Duet, GenZ NewZ (October 24, 2026) on Muse in Japan, and AI Stack Crunch (October 23, 2026) on the wider agent roundup. No hands-on testing is claimed in this article.
FAQ
When did Meta's Muse launch in Japan?
October 23, 2026 — its first market outside North America after the September debut in the US and Canada.What platforms is Muse available on?
iOS, Android, and the web, with basic functions free and subscriptions for more.What is Anthropic's Claude Duet?
A research preview opened October 21, 2026, waitlisted and limited to US Pro and Max subscribers, built on Claude Opus 5.5, with 6,000-plus connectors, a morning brief, and a rule of asking before it sends, pays, or deletes.What are OpenAI's Dots and xAI's Grok Bot?
Dots launched in late September for ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium users. Grok Bot launched August 11, built around multi-agent teams.Why does the Japan launch matter for developers?
Because the contest is now about distribution geography and connectors, not just model quality — and every agent in the race is still gated by region, waitlist, or plan.#ai #agents #meta #automation #software #coding #development #engineering #inclusive #community
Meta's Muse Just Landed in Japan — and the Proactive Agent War Just Went Global -
Short answer: find people through work you can already click on, judge them by five specific pages instead of the homepage, and use the first call to ask what is not included. Those three habits filter out most of the bad options before money comes up.
Where to look
Start with sites you already use in your own industry. Scroll to the footer and look for a "site by" credit. If there isn't one, ask the owner who built it. A referral from someone whose site you can open and poke at is worth more than any directory listing.Other places that work:
- Industry associations, trade-show exhibitor lists, supplier newsletters — the people who serve the same kind of business you run tend to know each other.
- Freelance marketplaces and portfolio sites. Use them to collect names, not to decide. A platform rating is not evidence about your project.
- Your accountant, your chamber of commerce, a co-working space. Useful mainly when you want someone in your own timezone for calls.
What not to use as a filter: the lowest price, the longest list of services, and any promise about search rankings.
The five pages to open on every portfolio site
Their homepage is the page they spent the most time on. It is the least informative page they have.1. The busiest page. Find the page with the most repeated elements — a product listing, a services index, a team page. Ask yourself: does the layout hold with three items? With thirty? Does a long paragraph still read, or does the text run into the next block? This is the page that resembles your actual site.
2. The contact or enquiry page. Submit a test enquiry with your real email address. Did you get a confirmation? Did the form tell you clearly when you submitted it empty? A broken form on a developer's own site is the single most useful signal you will get, and it costs you two minutes.
3. The mobile version, on your phone, on mobile data. Not on their office wifi and not in a device simulator. Time how long until you can read the headline, tap the menu open, and try to fill the form with one thumb.
4. The second language, if you need one. Do not check whether the words are translated — check whether the pages are. Click three links from the translated homepage. Do they stay in that language, or dump you back into the default one? Does the product list show the same products?
5. The footer pages. Privacy policy, terms, cookie notice. If they build for customers in Europe or the United States and their own site has none of these, that tells you what will be missing from yours.
Two more checks, thirty seconds each:
- Open an address on their site that does not exist — add a few random letters to the end of a page address. A bare server error page means nobody is minding the details.
- Read one portfolio entry properly. Does it say what the client needed, what was built, and roughly how long it took? If every entry is a screenshot with no context, you cannot tell what they did and what was already there before they arrived.
One more thing worth doing: portfolios often include sites the person only partly worked on, or maintained rather than built. That is not dishonest, but it is worth asking directly — "what was your part on this one?" A straight answer is a good sign.
The first call: eleven questions
Ask these before you talk about price. The point is not to catch anyone out; it is to find out whether they have done this enough times to have opinions.1. Who actually does the work? A good answer names the person and says whether any part is subcontracted. A warning sign is "our team" with no names, or a salesperson who will not be involved after signing.
2. What do you need from me, and what happens if it arrives late? A good answer is a written list — logo files, company text, product photos, product data, hosting login — plus an explicit statement that the clock starts when the materials arrive, not when you pay. A warning sign is "just send whatever you have."
3. What will I see first, and when? A good answer is a live preview address with a date attached. A warning sign is "we'll send you screenshots."
4. How many rounds of changes are included, and what counts as a change? A good answer gives a number and a definition: text swaps and colour changes are one thing, a new page or a new feature is another. A warning sign is "unlimited changes" — that is not a policy, it is the absence of one.
5. What is not included? A good answer is a list: domain, hosting, business email, copywriting, photography, translation, ongoing updates. A warning sign is silence, or "everything is included."
6. Whose name is the domain and hosting in? A good answer is yours, from day one, and you get the login. A warning sign is theirs, "for management purposes." This is the most expensive mistake on the list — recovering a domain from someone who stops answering is slow and sometimes impossible.
7. Will I have admin access to the site when it's finished, and can I export the content? A good answer is yes, plus a plain explanation of what you will be able to change yourself. A warning sign is "you don't need access, we handle updates."
8. What happens after launch — what's covered, for how long, and what's billed extra? A good answer defines a window for fixing defects and a rate for everything after it. A warning sign is "free support forever", or no answer at all.
9. What is the timeline measured from? A good answer is a number of working days counted from the date your materials are complete. A warning sign is a confident "two weeks" said before they have seen your content.
10. What would make you turn this project down? A good answer names something real — a deadline they cannot hit, a platform that does not fit, a budget that does not match the scope. A warning sign is "nothing, we can do anything." Anyone who has done this for a while has walked away from something.
11. Can I speak to the client whose site you just showed me? A good answer is "I'll ask them" or "they've agreed to be a reference." A warning sign is every single project being off-limits.
Red flags and green flags
Red flags, in roughly the order they should worry you:- No written scope, or a scope that is one paragraph long.
- The domain and hosting stay in their name.
- A price far below everyone else, with no explanation of what was cut.
- Pressure to decide today.
- No preview address — screenshots only.
- Guarantees about search ranking, traffic, or sales.
- A portfolio where every site looks identical, and none of them is in your industry.
- They ask for the full amount up front.
- They cannot tell you what happens after launch.
Green flags:
- They ask about your business before they ask about colours.
- They can show you a site they built that is still running.
- They push back on something you asked for, and explain why.
- The exclusions are in writing before you ask twice.
- They name the person who will do the work.
Payment and paperwork
Two rules that solve most disputes before they start.Do not pay the full amount up front. Split it against things you can see: a deposit to start, a payment when the preview is up, the rest at launch. Milestones tied to deliverables beat milestones tied to calendar dates.
Get the scope in writing, including the number of pages, who writes the text, who supplies the photos, and what happens if you add a page later. If the document does not mention something, assume it is not included.
Before you contact anyone: thirty minutes of prep
Write these down and the conversation becomes much shorter:- One paragraph on what the business does, who buys, and the single action a visitor should take.
- Three sites you like, and one specific thing about each. Not "it looks nice" — "the product table fits forty items on one screen without scrolling sideways."
- The materials you can supply today, and the ones you cannot.
- A budget range, and a date you genuinely need it by.
- Two developers to get quotes from, not five. Comparing five quotes against a one-page brief teaches you nothing.
The quotes you get will only be as good as the brief you send. And a developer who asks you good questions is telling you they have been burned before — that is usually the one worth a second call.#career #freelance #webdev #software #coding #development #engineering #inclusive #community
How to vet a web developer before you pay: which pages to open, which questions to ask