Drupal is the most secured AMP-based Content Management Systems (CMS). That’s why numerous Government organizations, corporate sites, Developer’s platform etc. are using it as their backend system. Using Drupal for your Website will not only boost its security but also guarantees the effective Site, User, Database, Cache & other managements. It is noteworthy to mention here that Theme Creation or Theme Conversion process for Drupal is more complicated than that of other CMSs. Not only developers but the clients ordering PSD to Drupal Conversion also have to take precautions. In this write up, we will discuss the questions to ask before placing a PSD to Drupal Theme Conversion order.

Have you listed the requirements?

We are sure that you’ve certain requirements for your new design or Website on Drupal. List all of your requirements in a spreadsheet or notepad file. Few sample requirements are,

1. HTML 5 based Drupal Theme
2. Integration of Facebook Login & Google FriendConnect
3. A blog section

Is it a company or freelancer?

This is first question to ask. If it is a company then it has a team of dedicated or partially-dedicated Drupal developers for your Theme Conversion order. If it is a freelance then either he/she is working full time or part-time. Make sure to have these details.

Where you can find them on the Internet?

Do they have a Website or any URL where you can find all the information about them like their services offered, team strength, support duration etc.? Visit their Website and try to grab the necessary information related to your order.

Where are they located?

Today, we all are living in a global world where one can order a service provider of different country online. But when it comes to the communication then location and time zone becomes a bar. Make sure to check where the PSD to Drupal service provider is located and what is their time zone. You can visit Home page, About us or Order page on a PSD to Drupal service provider’s Website to have this information.

Do they offer any package?

Make sure to ask about the packages, their cost and included features. If you are on service provider’s Website then check the packages cost, included feature, turnaround time, and their cost.

Do they include basic requirements?

The basic requirements for each PSD to Drupal conversion are,

1. Identical to original design
2. W3C Validation
3. Cross-Browser Compatibility
4. Commented CSS

Does your selected service provider include above requirements in the offered basic package? Are they charging extra for these requirements?

Do they charge extra for additional pages?

Few service providers also charge extra for the conversion of additional pages. Do not forget to know the additional charge if you want the conversion of other pages as well.

Do they charge for additional features?

Mostly the PSD to Drupal service providers only covers a pre-defined feature set in their packages. And they charge additionally for other features. Therefore, it is required to ask which additional features they offer and how much extra they charge for it. You can check the order page for Packages and Add-ons. If add-ons or package features are not listed there then send an email to the service provider with your requirements.

How many styles, views or region do you offer?

A Drupal Website contains,

1. Block styles – defines how content present the information.
2. Content – article, basic page, blog entry, book page, comment, forum or poll.
3. Regions – are the areas to position the blocks of content. The default regions are Header, Footer, Left Sidebar, and Right Sidebar.

Make sure to ask how many block styles, content and regions they include in their default packages. If you need more then how much will it cost. You can also check the Order page to know more about the same.

Which versions of HTML & CSS they offer?

Even if you’re going for a Drupal Theme Conversion still it is quite important to know which HTML version they are offering. Major search engines are giving more preference to the latest HTML and CSS versions. You can also check their packages and add-ons for the Markup versions offered.

Which Drupal version they support?

Drupal does not commit the backward compatibility across its different releases. It means developers have to modify their Themes and Extensions for making them compatible with latest Drupal releases. If you want to extract 100% benefits then you’ve to use theme on latest version of Drupal, i.e. 7.8 right now and Drupal 8 is under development. Make sure to ask which version of Drupal they support and do they have any scope to be compatible with its future releases?

What will be the total cost?

You have to calculate the total cost of your project. If your all of the requirements are not met with a basic package then you’ve to buy the additional features as well. List the cost of basic package plus additional features in spreadsheet and their sum will be the total cost of your project. You can list the total cost for selected service providers in a spreadsheet for price comparison.

What is their team strength?

If you’re dealing with a company then it becomes necessary to know how many Drupal Developers they’ve in their team. Are they working as an employee or freelancer? Are they working full-time or part time? Check for team strength in Home page or About us section. If not mentioned then query service provider about the same.

Do they’ve enough bandwidth for your project?

After knowing their team strength, it is the time to know whether they’ve enough bandwidth and resources to take your order and complete the Drupal Theme Conversion work on time. You can drop an email to the service provider to know the availability for your project.

Do they have a standardized work process?

Most of the service providers illustrate their complete process from ways to receive order to the completion of Drupal Theme Conversion. This will give you a clear picture how your preferred service provider works? If it is not disclosed on the Website then do not hesitate to ask them.

Do they follow Coding Conventions of Drupal.org?

Drupal.org has laid down the best practices, coding conventions and tools to use for developing the Drupal Themes & Modules. Click here to have detailed information about the same. You should ask the PSD to Drupal service providers whether they follow these specifications for your work or not.

What is their turnaround?

In how much time will you convert my PSD design to a working Drupal Theme? Turnaround time depends on these factors,

1. team strength,
2. available bandwidth,
3. design complexity,
4. supported Drupal version,
5. add-ons,

Check the turnaround time at Home page or Order page of the Website. PSD to Drupal service providers offer turnaround time on the basis of their time zone rather than visitors’ time zone.

Is there any testing?

Do you offer any testing of the converted theme before final delivery? If yes then how you test the converted theme. Which tools and parameters do you use for testing the themes?

What will happen if your project is not completed on time?

If you could not deliver my work on promised time then what will be the status. Will you give me a Timeline Guarantee for this coverage? Do you give me partial or full refund when your team could not deliver the complete work?

How they take orders?

PSD to Drupal service providers offer two ways of accepting Theme Conversion orders at their Website: Order page and ‘Request for quote’. At Order page, you can select the package plus add-ons to purchase and make the payment with available modes & terms. Whereas, you’ve to provide your contact information and design file to have a price estimation of your work.

Do they have a client base?

Ask for clientele of the PSD to Drupal service provider to know with which companies or individuals they’ve worked earlier. Browse ‘Clientele’, ‘Our Clients’, or ‘Clients’ section at their Websites. If necessary you can also contact their two clients to have references about their work.

Have you seen their portfolio?

Check the Portfolio of your preferred PSD to Drupal service providers. Portfolio illustrates the sample PSD to Drupal conversion done by them and it’ll clarify their work quality. We suggest you to test the samples provided in Portfolio for parameters like W3C Validation, Cross-browser Compatibility etc.

Have you tested their Website?

If a PSD to Drupal service provider has a Website then you should test it out to know their quality standards and available bandwidths for projects. Most of the times, few companies could not maintain their Website in absence of proper bandwidths and team strength. You can test their Website for W3C Validation, Cross Browser Compatibility, Page Loading Speed etc.

Is there any guarantee?

Most of the good PSD to Drupal service providers offer different guarantees to facilitate their clients. These are Best Price Guarantee, Money Back Guarantee, Satisfaction Guarantee, Timeline Guarantee etc. Make sure to read all the terms and conditions mentioned in such Guarantees. You can also mail the service provider to have a proof of such guarantees, total cost of your project and turnaround time. Keep proof of such communications for future usage.

Do they offer free support after delivery?

Almost each PSD to Drupal service provider offer free technical support after delivering the conversion work. You should enquire about their support period, day & timings of support, and channels through which support is delivered.

Do they offer Development Monitoring?

PSD to Drupal Theme Conversion process includes several steps. You can monitor these steps and can contact the service provider for any modification. For this, you should ask them whether they provide free monitoring of development work for your theme conversion order and provide support to improve the design as well.

Which Communication Channels do they use?

Theme Conversion Industry mostly employs these communication channels to connect with their clients, visitors or readers: Live Chat, Phone Number, Contact Form, Email Address and Instant Messengers. Check with your service providers of their preferred communication channels and the availability timings of their support, sales or customer care team. You can also visit their Website to check their contact channels, time zone and availability timings.

Is there any Non-Disclosure Agreement?

Does your service provider offer commencement of Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) during the order? NDA protects privacy and ownership rights of provided design file and other information. Make sure they protect your work with a full-proof NDA. You can also read the Non-Disclosure Agreement at their Website and confirm the same while ordering your work.

Is it safe to make purchase on their Website?

Before making payment to the service provider, read all the legal documentations available on their Website like Terms & Conditions, Disclaimer, Non-disclosure Agreement, Refund Policy, Money Back Guarantee, Privacy Policy, Best Price Guarantee, etc. Carefully visit the order page, select the options as per requirement, and then proceed with the Checkout.

Is there any ongoing discount?

Check for the offers and discounts mentioned on the service provider’s Website. You can also ask them through email or chat to know about the latest discounts going on.

Which Payment Options do they provide?

Go to the order page to check the supported payment options. If your preferred payment medium is not supported then email the service provider for more information regarding the same.

What are their Payment Terms?

Do you take 100% in advance for an order? Do you offer to pay some percentage after the delivery? Option to pay partially or fully after delivery ensures the quality work and on-time completion of your work. So do not hesitate to offer to pay few percentages after delivery.

Conclusion

You can ask above questions before placing an order of PSD to Drupal Theme Conversion. These will help you to extract more advantages within a fixed budget and also aware you how to deal with the professional companies in this area. We invite our reader to share their valuable experience with PSD to Drupal Theme conversion or creation of Drupal theme.

About Amit Pankaj: Amit Pankaj works as a Senior Technical Writer with PSD to Drupal Providers. He specializes in Social Media, Content Manegement and SEO. PSD to Drupal Providers shares information and insight on PSD to DRUPAL Conversion and integration with 3rd party CMSs like Drupal, Magento, WordPress and Joomla. Subscribe to our Blog RSS for updates on HTML Conversion Service.