OK! I have an idea in my head that I want to map out specific to the industry I work in. I have the pleasure of knowing my market place quite well and I want to put a site together that is more than just a blog site. I would like this site to become the online hub for this niche, i see this including (but not limited to) My Blog Forum Business directory Equipment by Country/Agent equipment review This site will naturally have an advertising package attached to it, that I would like to try and automate as much as possible. Would appreciate any comments/additions anyone may have and a guidance as to weather there are any systems out there that will suit my needs. If anyone knows of any site examples of what they think I am after please let me know of them so I can go and explore them for ideas. Thanks all.
I would build the site on the Joomla or Drupal platform. These are both open source but they have a learning curve. However it's pretty inexpensive to hire someone to build a site on these platforms because most of the architecture that you are looking for already exists. The nice thing about Drupal and Joomla is that once it's set up, it's easy to add content later Check them out. Doesn't matter which platform you use...it really depends on who you hire to set it up. Depends on what they are proficient in. Just a couple words of advise here. Ask your potential Joomla/Drupal developer for example sites that they have done in the past. Make sure they can show you all the stuff you mentioned above. This will let you know if they know what they are doing.
Does this sort of site have a name like "Community Site" etc? And what do you think would be the best structure for it? 1) A fixed page that advertises all site elements for navigation 2) Blog site first with others linked off that?
you can just set up the blog and forum in sub directories in the main site that way you have one site with a blog and forum all together
I am thinking of taking this down a alternative route! Seeing as I require a site with varying functions, blog, business directory, Forum, Wiki page, and review site etc, I think I might get a domain put a blog up as a sub directory, create a landing page and learn how to design sites myself. This will enable me to grow the site as and when needed to meet my criteria as I still don't know what I want to be able to write a brief for someone to design to.