Pulling hair out, some people just have no idea what they're doing (Rant)

[swiftaw]

So, I am in charge of the website for our department. Note, this is not actually what my job is, but I maintain it because I'm the only one who knows how.

Anyway, within our department we have a group that is semi-autonomous, they do their own thing with little interference but technically they are part of the department. So, the group have created their own website, and the department head asked me to place a link to it on the department website. No problem, I thought.

So, I go to the place where the group's website should be and I get a file not found message in the browser window. I fire off an email to the group leader asking them to let me know when their site went live so I could then add the link to the department page.

A little while later they respond, saying that the department head had told them not to make the site live until after I had placed the link on the department page. Cue major eye rolling. Fine, I said, so I have added the link to the department website and informed them I had done so, so while I'm waiting for them to make their site live I have to look at a dead link on a site I created. I hate dead links, it's a pet peeve of mine.

Anyway, rank over, thanks for listening.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Maybe knowing that their site is being linked to is supposed to be some kind of motivator for them? It's definitely backwards, though.

 

[Consultant]

Have to agree. What idi*ts. The standard is to upload the site, make sure it works, before adding links to existing sites.

Well, you are getting paid either way, so don't let some people with low IQ raise your blood pressure too high.

You should instead, add some text next to the link:
"For information on the non-functioning dead link, authorized by (department head) contact (fill in the group contact)"

 

[OutThere]

People are really, really foolish sometimes.

Last summer I made a quite nicely designed, very functional site for a non-profit adult education group in town. They paid me pretty well, and everyone seemed happy. I left them with the passwords and a commitment to do maintenance in the future. Well this summer the site has been pulled down and replaced with a butt-ugly front page with a whole bunch of links to "Under Construction" dead ends with little saw horses on them. It has been like that for 3 months.

Really what goes through peoples' heads?

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

@OP:

Absurd! They didn't even allow you to put a placeholder page, i.e. even a simple static page with a "coming soon notice" (better than error 404) ?

The biggest problem I have in my job is last minute stuff that are major revisions off the last prototype. Major is defined as having to change a complete layout, redo a database schema, rewrite the structure of an XML file a few thousand lines long, and so on.

The second biggest problem is logistical, i.e. one person in department A approves a change, then someone else in department B rejects it *after* it gets sent to the developers as approved. No process flow.

I actually don't mind wars between departments and within them - it helps in the creative process, luckily our national director knows when to step in and act as King, making a final decision and sticking with it. It's rare to have quality leadership at the top who understand IT's woes.

-jim