Building a Robust Website

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Garrett

Garrett

music LOUD
Feb 4, 2008
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I have a question for you guys...

I've finally found a project that will satisfy both my short and long term goals but I need some advice before I can really move on with the project.

Okay, please bear with me.

I've been an affiliate for about 2 years now and I can pretty much only build landing pages and do the basic stuff - like HTML/CSS. I want to build a more robust community-like website, but I have no idea what powers them or where to start.

My skills are most definitely not up to par when it comes to building sites that allow people to log-in, create profiles and communicate with each other. I guess I'm envisioning a mix between a forum and myspace.

The purpose of the site is to serve this particular niche industry, which is made up almost entirely of creative freelancers. I'd like them to be able to communicate with each other, and at the same time, allow employers to find them.

Where do you recommend I start? A certain framework? Know of any useful scripts, links, sites?

Sorry if I being too vague with my questions.
 


Well community websites, you basically have a choice of using scripts like.

- Wordpress
- Drupal
- Pligg

and so on, and using a combination of plugins and code modifications. All above will let people login and edit their profile and such.

If you want a 'social network' there is always social engine ( SocialEngine PHP Social Network Script - Build your own social network community! ) which is what I'm using for http://www.canushoot.com easily modifiable (if you're a php programmer that is).

And I know Drupal with some plugins can be similar to social engine.
 
I would highly recommend Drupal. I use it for all my sites and I run a number of community sites as well. It has all the basic core user, login, forum stuff built in and really solid and then you can build off that framework whatever custom stuff you need.
 
Sweet guys! I may be looking for somebody to do some grunt work soon, so hit me up and show me what you can do.
 
kblessinggr said:
Well community websites, you basically have a choice of using scripts like.

- Wordpress
- Drupal
- Pligg
Click to expand...

I generally prefer Wordpress, but Joomla is another option. Easier to use than Drupal, but not quite as powerful. IMO, WP will do more than most people need.
 
slayerment said:
I would highly recommend Drupal. I use it for all my sites and I run a number of community sites as well. It has all the basic core user, login, forum stuff built in and really solid and then you can build off that framework whatever custom stuff you need.
Click to expand...

Drupal is definitely the most powerful and expandable - but you're going to have a huge learning curve to get your head wrapped around it. I have a bunch of drupal sites but still jump to Wordpress / vbulletin w/the vbridge for quick and simple 'community' sites.
 
Sweet!

I know Wordpress pretty well... but when it comes to plugins and applications, that is a whole 'nother level. I'm definitely not prepared to 'Do-It-Yourself'.

I really appreciate all the suggestions guys! You're awesome!
 
Elgg is pretty sweet. A brand new version just came out I think. They have great plugins available that can do exactly what you're mentioning.
 
http://blackbeltdomain.com/ <-- default install of elgg with just a theme I picked that's available.

Been sitting for two weeks and already spammed :)

It's easy to use but the community isn't up to par with WP or Joomla yet. I think Joomla gives you a bunch more options.
 
I dislike Joomla. I really can't stand the way they set up their URLs, and I have recently found that working with URL rewriting modules in Joomla is an effort in futility. Not SEO friendly.

I much prefer WordPress for simple sites and it seems as though Drupal is great for complex communities. There are also several good open source community building apps, and several inexpensive commercial apps. SocialEngine looks good. If I had a great idea for a community, I would probably try that.

Also, after looking at Elgg I would probably do a Goog search for reviews on SocialEngine and Elgg, and choose the one that people like best. No current experience with either yet.
 
You're going to get a lot of extra crap you don't need if you go with something off the shelf, and you're going to end up having to pay somebody to tweak it anyway. Might as well create value by hiring a developer and a design to write it specifically to the community needs.

We did something similar with a tennis community, specifically for tennis leagues to tracking matches and tournaments and the like. It's a 100k+ a year business and worth the investment.
 
BlueMendicant said:
You're going to get a lot of extra crap you don't need if you go with something off the shelf, and you're going to end up having to pay somebody to tweak it anyway. Might as well create value by hiring a developer and a design to write it specifically to the community needs.

We did something similar with a tennis community, specifically for tennis leagues to tracking matches and tournaments and the like. It's a 100k+ a year business and worth the investment.
Click to expand...


For sure. This is important to me, so I will definitely be doing my research when it comes to hiring someone, which is inevitable in my case.
 
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