Hi All, I'm new at this so bear with me. I've done very little html work with a text editor but that's about the extent of my know-how. But I'm willing to learn. I have an idea for a website that I know is a winner. I'm going to be a little cagey about the details for obvious reason but I'll describe it as best I can. I've found forum software on line but don't know if there is any web-building software that would allow *me* to create the kind of forum I need. If not, I need to know, if you were me, how you would get this thing created. I'd like to create something that I could eventually edit myself. It would be nice to find software that could do the basics then hire someone to create the home page for me. The basic design would be a lot like craigslist. One database but several forums but all of the forums having the same basic design, categories, stickies etc. I want them to first be able to register, which gives them access to the site, then they choose their state, then within that state choose the ...lets just call it a..."High School" they're at. I want each school to have its own password so people from other HS's can't use it. But I also want the user to be able to move to a different HS and log in with that school's password. I also want there to be a guest area w/in each HS's forum where people without that school's password can address people from that school. Also within the guest area and I need to have a school map and clickable room numbers that will take you to photos of different parts of the school. In the password-protected area I would like to have a place where people in each school can leave their contact information on file which can be viewed by anyone else who has access to that school's forum. The income for the site would come from the advertising -- if this goes national it will be a massive money-maker so it would be important that there was space for that. The design could be fairly simple. I'd like space at the top of each schools forum to put a photo of each school and a little info about it. I have the domain name. I don't know what needs to be done first. What is the easiest and least expensive way to get this site created? Is there software that will allow me to create this, and then tweak it later? And if so, which ones do what I need it to do and which programming languages do I have any shot at learning myself. Every time I add a high school I will need to create a banner for it's forum and add it's link to the home page search under that state. If anyone could give me the Cliff's notes version of how the advertising works, that would be great. I guess there will need to be stats on how many people are logging on each day in order to determine ad prices. ? Thanks so much for your help!
Personally, I'd use XenForo. You can easily create an "if checked" addon. You can read about it on their forums one you purchase a license.
Honestly, Something of this caliber - I would probably go with a custom developed site. You may be able to find a out of the box solution that you can tweak, but in my opinion it is just simpler for a developer to build the site to spec from scratch. It may cost you, but at the end of the day - you will get EXACTLY what you envision. As long as you pick a reputable and reliable development firm. PM me if you need any more info. Steel City Developers.
I gave my opinion only due to the fact that I have seen many different ocassions where clients came to me asking to use an out of the box solution and I wouldnt do it - only to follow up with them and they were tremendously unhappy with the product from sub-par developers. Only to hire me in the long run to develop from scratch. Then they become happy. Good luck in your venture.
I have my own personal project that I work on outside of the time i work on my client's projects - i have been developing this idea for almost 2 years now and it is still roughly 6 - 9 months away from market. IT is all about starting somewhere and making sure you don't lose the vision.