Oh, to be a Web developer or designer these days. Great jobs, great pay, great respect. Right? Okay, so maybe we’re a little off. Web workers actually have it pretty rough. From dealing with dopey clients to making do with little pay, it’s a wonder you’re still in the biz. Give yourself a little break and check out this list of 10 funny (but true) rants about the Web world.

1. Implementing animated images: The author of this article laments that "less than 0.01% of animated images I’ve seen are necessary to make the page useful." Does your client’s professional Web site really need a dancing penguin hopping around in the top left corner? Unnecessary animated images often take away from a site’s credibility and almost always "distract [visitors] from the real content of your pages." But good luck telling that to your client. The dancing penguin always wins.
2. Copycat Designs: Ever search the Web and run into a design that looks exactly like one you created for a different client? Similarities in page design are bound to occur, but every once in a while you run into a website that looks unmistakably like one of your own. Sometimes you can put partial blame of a copycat design on the client. They’ve seen your site and want their website to be based on your designs. The designer, however, should know how to develop an original creation that was only inspired by your skills. This post on the Wow Web Designs Forums critiques the lack of originality in today’s designs. Even though Web developers now have more access to the right resources than ever before, "the majority of sites are looking and feeling the same. Just copycat stuff really, and only the originators made it look good….So when you’re doing your next site, make sure you’re doing something unique." Don’t forget that someone worked long and hard to design the site that you want to copy –and it wasn’t you.
3. Attack of the Flash-aholics: We ran into this rant on several different sites, but we felt that Josiah Cole explained this concept best: "Look at it this way," he says, "even Macromedia/Adobe, the maker of Flash doesn’t have an all Flash website." Why? Using Flash for all your site’s functions makes you look like an amateur. You’ll end up adding way too many distractions and may even cause the site to run more slowly. Flash "encourages design abuse," according to Useit.com, so when in doubt, ditch it.
4. Wasting money on Web hosting sites: If you know anything about Web development, you know that paying an arm and a leg for Web hosting makes about as much sense as agreeing to pay marked up prices on tap water. Seriously cheap providers can still offer competitive prices while maintaining professional services. Check this list for the top 10 providers of cheap virtual Web hosting. IX Web Hosting is one of the best for matching affordable prices with solid service. No matter who your client is, recommending rip-off Web hosters is just lame.
5. Dealing with the "Know-it-All" client: Every vendor has had to deal with the know-it-all client, but Web developers might have it the worst. Everyone’s an expert on the Internet, or so they seem to think. But clicking around on the Web, checking out competitors’ sites or shopping online doesn’t exactly give them the right to boss you around. They hired you, after all. Web designer Jason Mauss wants to know "how come people that aren’t designers (web or any other variety) think they know [what's best] for a website? Even moreso than those that have spent years in the trenches battling Photoshop, CSS, pixels, and HTML." Does the customer always have to be right?
6. Dealing with the "but can’t you just" client: What’s worse than the know-it-all? The client who’s always trying to get you to add on free services. You know who we’re talking about. "But can’t you just change all the fonts while you’re at it?" "But can’t you just make it a layered file system since you’re already here?" To many non-Web savvy customers, your job basically consists of clicking the mouse over and over again. They don’t realize that you actually have to be paid for your services, not all fonts are free, and they need the appropriate software programs and downloads to implement the designs they want. Would they be willing to replace your car’s windshield wipers for free since you’re already at the shop for an inspection or to throw in a few complementary pairs of underwear since you already bought socks from their store? We didn’t think so.
7. Fighting the good fight: giving in to advertising: The article A Rant About Web Design discusses another popular grievance Web designers and developers have: giving in to the advertising game. Losing valuable space to tacky ads makes some sites force designers to split articles among many different pages, which makes the site lose any aesthetic appeal and convenience it could otherwise claim. What’s worse? Smaller, personal sites, like blogs have also started selling out to capitalist campaigns. If you want a professional to design your blog for you, don’t limit him or her to background color and font size just because you need extra space for all your shady ad deals.
8. Saving a design as "final": This rant isn’t against clients, non-Web developers, or even computers. You’ve only got to blame yourselves for this one. Number 7 in the Bittbox.com lists "25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer" states that "you’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving." For those of you who haven’t yet learned your lesson, we’ll bet you’re ranting and raving each time you have to re-save your "final" version. Who are you kidding anyway? Your Web page won’t be finalized until you’ve gotten your check and don’t have to speak to the client ever again.
9. Web development expert does not equal programming expert: No matter how many times you tell that ignoramus of a boss, just because you know how to develop and design websites, does not mean that you know anything about programming or engineering. This article from Dice.com is written by a CS grad, whose current boss thinks that, "If I am a computer person, I must know everything about computers - from hardware [to] networks [to] software [to] graphics to coding." Doesn’t your boss understand that he needs to hire someone else for the job instead of piling it on you for the same lousy pay?
10. "We can’t afford to pay you, but we’ll let you have a link back to your site": This rant is from the list compiled by Web designer Matthew Browne. While it’s true that online advertising goes a long way, it does not equal sufficient pay for a complete Web design and development job. It doesn’t even come close. How is a measely little link going to put food on your table? If you’re not willing to come up with a sensible budget for developing your site, design it yourself.

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