Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi All

I have plans on implementing membership into my website. I have already searched here but couldn`t find the information I was looking for. I know there are many paid membership management software companies, but I was hoping if there were any free, open-source alternatives.

The membership features I would like to implement, are those found in any commercial website such as Amazon or Ebay, plus other things unique to my website.

How customizable are paid membership management software? Some of the companies I have looked at, seemed to provide management systems that operate like forums. Although my website will have forums, it will also be a commercial site and will need to be able to track transactions and individual sales etc.

 Any feedback on your experience with membership management software, paid or free appreciated.

Joomla.... comes to mind. It is a CMS program that does have a membership function.

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Thanks for the the tip.
Is Joomla the only-source open-source alternative?
Do many CMS programs have membership functions?
Is Joomla the only open-source CMS with membership, or the only open-source CMS in general?

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Thanks for the tips, after some research. I am looking towards Drupal over Joomla. Both rather established, but Drupal has an extensive support network and community, especially helpful for an open-source CMS.

Thanks again

If you`d like more specific answers, like vwebworld said - you`re going to need to be more specific.  If you`re looking to integrate forums with cms with an e-commerce shop, you`re going to probably run into some trouble.  They can be integrated, one into the other, but there are few good open-source, one size fits all programs.
Joomla is probably one of the better ones, but it can be very overwhelming because of all the options.  You might want to start with what is most important to you (like an e-commerce package) and then build on it later.



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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

Interesting, from what I have been reading, Drupal is recommended over Drupal. I will look further into it.

My website vision is less driven by a forum, but a the integration of a user profile with e-commerce. It sounds general, but the information being organized per each user profile is rather expansive and will more than likely utilize alot of database integration. Features could include items for sale by seller (individual inventory), past transactions, peer reviews/ratings, customized alerts etc. Is that considered expansive? Drupal and/or Joomla still suitable?

I plan to integrate a forum of some form at a later time.

I have a quick question about Drupal, perhaps related to Joomla too. I`ve been watching videos on Youtube about installing Drupal, from what I`ve seen it seems you need to have hosting on your website inorder to use and customize Drupal.

I currently just own the domain name, no hosting whatsover, does that mean I cannot design my website using Drupal until I get hosting in some form or another? Is Drupal not an offline design solution?

Thanks

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

It`s incredible the amount of debate over the superior CMS, Joomla and Drupal. Most comparison articles are outdated. Which of the two would you suggest to use for a largely e-commerce based website? My e-commerce functionality is along the lines of Amazon with member accounts, member inventories, member-to-member sales etc. I want all these things to be easily managed by the member accounts/profile.

From what I`ve researched Joomla has/had a lead over earlier versions of Drupal in terms of e-commerce, but the latest generation of Drupal has UberCart which from what I`ve read is good even a superior solution to Joomla. Opinions welcome.

Which of the two CMS would best meet my two main requirements?

Just another somewhat related question. I`ve been browsing through some Drupal themes and one design I found particularly attractive had "No CSS hacks" in its description.

Could someone please explain what that means, does it limit customization? The description also noted the theme being "tableless" which almost seems to contradict my idea of "No CSS hacks."

Clarification appreciated.