Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey! What`s up guys?

I`m actually quite a novice at creating websites. Its a shame really, I can only create the simple functional ones.

Anyway, I`m just wondering what the prerequisites/components are for a membership website, aside from members of course.

Thanks!


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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

Let`s start with content. A reason to become a member.

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what do you mean by "membership"? Are we talking forums or some other kind of application?

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Read About Double Entry Accounting & The Accounting Equation

The one I`m intending to create is somewhat similar to this website we`re in: each member has a profile, and they have to have one in order to gain access to the forums and/or other resources in the site.

What I need to know is the technical stuff behind this kind of website `cause I know nothing about it.

Like:

• Can I run this from home?
• Do I really need to buy a server?
• Do I have to program or code this myself or can I buy this somewhere?

And any other information you can give me...Thanks!


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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

To answer some of your questions:

• You don`t need a server. You can just get web hosting somewhere to host your website and they take care of the actual hardware. You take care of the web content and database if any. You can consider buying a server if things get serious and you need the full control.
  
• Yes you`ll probably have to program or code it. You should look it content managment systems like drupal, joomla, and xoop.  They are  "membership/community" based systems that you can install on your website and configure a lot of it through a web interface without having to code too much.
• And if you have money, of course you can buy it somewhere or get someone to build it.... :)
  

We actually just implemented one using drupal core with heavy customization:  http://spotthegroove.com

Any questions, let me know. Good luck!
-Brandon



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Brandon Eng, Owner, Lead Studios

Play sports? Find other Toronto players @ www.sportaholik.com

Thanks for the info! But then which of these three (Drupal, Joomla, Xoop) is the most:

• User friendly?
• Easy to manage?
• Reliable?

Or does anyone have other suggestions? I am a novice at this after all so I need the simplest one to use

By the way, how much money does it take to create this kind of a website? Not including the costs of marketing and all that, just the actual cost of creating the website and getting it to operate.

Thanks!


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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

Hi youdontknowme

My preference is for Drupal. It seems to be the most flexible of the lot. You`ll probably want to install a couple of add-ons (like the WYSIWYG editor). I`m using it for my next site www.webdevtv.com (yes, I`m running a little late on producing the content).

   Rich



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Blog - http://www.buggy.id.au/

I prefer Drupal as well. Its quite powerful and with all the add on modules, you can do quite a bit without having to do much coding. On the flip side, you can also customize, expand and do just about anything you want if you do want to code around the drupal core.

As for cost, here`s a breakdown You can probably find deals around to save you more $$ so its just approximate.

• $10 for domain name/year
• Say $10-30 a month for web hosting depending on what kind of package you are looking at
  
• When you look for hosting, look for one that provides "cpanel" or something similar. Basically its a powerful web interface that allows you to control many aspects of your web server, including installing things like Drupal, bulletin boards and other software all via web console. Makes things a little easier if you aren`t too familiar with some of the techincal details.
• Biggest cost will probably be your time and learning that you`ll need to do but that`s the norm when you are just starting out.

Brandon



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Brandon Eng, Owner, Lead Studios

Play sports? Find other Toronto players @ www.sportaholik.com

You might also want to allocate some money for the site design and turning it into a Drupal template. The best way to save money here is to think about what you want the site to look like before you visit a web designer/developer. When you approach them try to provide examples of layouts and color schemes that you like (or hate). The better the brief you give them the faster they can do your design/template and the cheaper it will be.


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Blog - http://www.buggy.id.au/

Okay I`ve gotten Drupal and I have extracted it and installed it, but the thing is when I try to do the "www.yourdomain.com/where_you_extracted_Drupal" part I can`t see anything. The only thing I see is a big fat Internal Server Error message.

What does this mean? Does this have anything to do with the fact that I`m practicing using FreeHostia.com? I am confused hahahaha..

I`m thinking about using BlueHost.com when I go official, is that advisable?

btw RichardBuggy, where can I get that WYSIWYG editor?




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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com