Nashville PHP & Web Developer: What a Quote Covers

Most small businesses don't go looking for a developer because they want software. They go looking because somebody in the office is copying data from one screen into another every morning, or the system they rent costs more every year and still doesn't do the one thing they need.

That's usually where I come in. I'm a web developer in Nashville, TN, building in PHP, WordPress and Next.js for businesses across Middle Tennessee and remote teams anywhere. Most of my work is the unglamorous, useful kind: integrations, portals, internal tools, WordPress plugins, PHP upgrades, and moving old apps onto something that'll last.

Every project starts with a free quote. Here's exactly what that means, so you know what you're signing up for (which is nothing, yet). If you already know you want one, skip ahead and send me the problem.

You don't need a requirements document. Most people who write to me don't have one, and that's fine.

What helps is the problem in your own words. What does your office do by hand today? What system does the data live in now: a CRM, a spreadsheet, an old app somebody built in 2014? Who uses it, and what would "fixed" look like on a normal Tuesday? That's why the contact form on my site asks what your office does by hand. It's the best starting point I know.

If you have them, these help too:

• The tools involved (Salesforce, QuickBooks, a payment processor, a signature tool, whatever's in the mix).
• Where the current site or app is hosted, if there is one.
• Any hard dates, like a contract renewal, a launch or an audit.
• Screenshots of the screens people complain about, with customer data blurred out.

Please don't send passwords, API keys or customer records with a quote request. I don't need them to scope the work, and email is the wrong place for them.

Once I've read it (I read these myself), I'll come back with questions. They're usually the same kinds of things:

• Who touches it. Staff only, customers, partners, or all three. That changes the login, permissions and how careful the screens need to be.
• Where the data has to end up. If records need to land in your CRM, I need to know which objects and fields, and who wins when two systems disagree.
• What can't break. The report finance runs on the first of the month. The integration a partner depends on. Those set the order of the work.
• What it runs on. Your hosting, your domain, your accounts. I'd rather build into what you already own than hand you something only I can run.
• What's actually in scope. "Nice to have" goes on a separate list so the estimate stays honest.

Sometimes a call is faster than email. Once you reach out through the contact form, email, call or text, we can set up a 15 to 30 minute intro call to talk it through.

A quote from me is a written scope, not a number on a napkin. It covers:

• What I'll build, in plain language, broken into pieces you can approve one at a time.
• What I won't build, so nobody's surprised later.
• How it gets to production: where it'll run, how it's tested, and how we roll back if something goes sideways.
• An estimate. Scoped projects like an integration, a portal or a conversion get a fixed price per phase, with payment at each milestone, so you know the total before anything starts. Ongoing support and small changes are hourly or a monthly retainer, with a cap on hours so there are no surprise bills. More on that on my Work With Me page.

The quote itself usually comes back within the week.

If the right answer is "you don't need custom software, you need a setting changed in the tool you already pay for," I'll say that too. It's a shorter quote.

I build in whatever fits the project and what you already run. Most of it lands in one of three places:

PHP

Custom PHP 8 applications, portals and APIs, plus upgrades for older PHP code that's stuck on an unsupported version. If your business runs on PHP, I can build on it, fix it or modernize it. Here's why upgrading to PHP 8.5 is worth it.

WordPress

Custom WordPress plugins and themes, new WordPress builds, and updates and modifications to the site you already have. That includes the plugin that does the one thing no off-the-shelf plugin does, a theme built around your brand instead of a page builder, and safe updates to core, themes and plugins. If a plugin on your site has been compromised, here's how to audit a WordPress site after a plugin compromise.

Next.js

Modern JavaScript and TypeScript web apps built with Next.js and deployed on Vercel. It's a strong fit for fast marketing sites, customer dashboards and apps that need to feel quick on a phone.

For a lot of Nashville and Middle Tennessee businesses, I build new sites on Next.js and host them on Vercel. Most pages are prebuilt and served from a global CDN, so they load fast and don't need a server running code for every visit. You also aren't paying for an idle server at 3 AM, buying a control panel license, or paying someone to patch a box.

For a typical small business site, that usually means a smaller, simpler hosting bill and a site that holds up on a busy Saturday without anyone touching it. Vercel's Pro plan is $20 a month and includes $20 of usage credit. That's the plan a business needs, since the free Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial sites only. I set up spend alerts, plus a hard limit if you want one, so the bill doesn't surprise you.

It isn't the right fit for everyone. If you live in the WordPress editor or your site runs on a plugin you can't replace, I'll tell you that and keep you on PHP or WordPress. For the full breakdown, read where the savings actually come from with Next.js and Vercel, including what you pay for and the honest caveats.

Whatever the stack, most of what I do falls into a few buckets:

• CRM and API integrations. Keeping Salesforce or another system of record in sync with partner platforms, signature tools, payment processors and the rest of the APIs your business runs on. If your integration still signs in to Salesforce with a username and password, that login method is being retired.
• Client and staff portals. Guided intake, document collection, review queues, and the internal screens your team actually works in all day.
• Legacy conversions. Taking an old or rented app and rebuilding it as software you own. That includes moving Node or older PHP apps onto modern PHP 8 when that makes them cheaper to host and easier to maintain. Here's how converting a Node.js app to PHP works.
• Upgrades and security patching. Getting a site or app off PHP 7 or 8.1 and onto a supported version, keeping WordPress and its plugins current, and staying on top of patches. Here's what needed patching this month.
• Hosting and servers. I've deployed on Vercel, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS, and on plenty of standard cPanel hosting. I'll recommend whatever fits the project and your budget, not whatever's trendy.
• Practical AI. Document reading, intake and internal assistants, placed inside the workflow and kept inside your privacy rules.

If yours doesn't fit a bucket, send it anyway. The odd ones are often the most interesting.

You shouldn't have to take my word for it. A few places to look first:

• The kinds of portals and internal tools I build, and how I approach the engineering behind them.
• Assay and Vektor, two apps I'm building myself on my own server, written up in plain language.
• My Composer supply chain checklist for PHP projects, which is the kind of care I put into the code I hand over.

You don't need a developer in your zip code. Plenty of good work happens remotely, and I work with remote teams too. But being local means I can sit down with your team when it matters. When it works for you, I'm glad to meet in person. Watching someone do the task you want to automate tells me more in twenty minutes than a week of email.

I grew up in Sumner County and still live and work in the Nashville area. I work with businesses in Nashville and Davidson County, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Mt. Juliet, Lebanon, and the rest of Middle Tennessee.

I'll ask a lot of questions. It's how the estimate ends up close to the real number.

Not every project is a fit. If something's outside what I do well, I'll tell you and point you somewhere better if I can.

You own what you pay for. The code is yours, and you get full documentation on both how to use the system and how the codebase works.

None of that's meant to scare anyone off. It's meant to make the first conversation a useful one.

How much does it cost to hire a web developer in Nashville?

It depends on the scope, which is why the quote is free. Scoped projects like an integration, a portal, a WordPress plugin or a conversion get a fixed price per phase, so you know the total before anything starts. Ongoing support and small changes are hourly or a monthly retainer with a cap on hours. See how pricing works.

How fast will I hear back?

I usually reply within a couple of hours. The written quote usually comes back within the week, and if a call is faster, we can set up a 15 to 30 minute intro call first. Reach me through the contact form, email caleb@calebdorris.com, or call or text (615) 914-1073.

Do you build and customize WordPress sites?

Yes. I build custom WordPress plugins and themes, build new WordPress sites, and handle updates and modifications to existing ones.

Do you build Next.js apps?

Yes. I build modern JavaScript and TypeScript web apps with Next.js and deploy them on Vercel, alongside PHP and WordPress work.

Do you only work with Nashville businesses?

No. I'm based in Nashville and work with businesses across Middle Tennessee in person or remotely, and with remote teams nationwide.

Can you upgrade an old PHP site or app to a current version?

Yes. Moving apps off PHP 7 or 8.1 onto a supported PHP 8 release is a common project, and I scope it like any other: what can't break, how it's tested, and how we roll back. Here's why it's worth doing.

Do I need to know what technology I want?

No. Describe the problem in your own words. I'll recommend what fits the project and your budget, and I'd rather build into what you already own.

Who owns the code?

You do. Every project ends with full documentation on how to use the system and how the codebase works.

Send me the problem. I'll read it myself, usually reply within a couple of hours, and come back with a written scope and an estimate you can say yes or no to. No pressure, no cost to ask.

If your office is still doing by hand what software should be doing, get a free quote from a Nashville web developer, email me at caleb@calebdorris.com, or call or text (615) 914-1073.