OM2 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 I've hit upon a brilliant idea: create a website, allow people to become members, allow those members to create their own web pages. Yes!! I'm going to make a million! Yee ha! Erm: mySpace (and other websites) have been there an done that! Regardless: I'm still thinking of creating the solution. I would like: 1. To have templates that members use to create pages (as well as free design). 2. To have a subscription system where users have to pay to use certain features and where viewers have to pay to view some of the content. A good starting place would be a mySpace type website opensource code. I thought this would be good to do, rather than start from scratch. Or: should I start from scratch and just use something like Joomla as a starting point? Any advice would be appreciated. OM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfmason Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 I am currently working on a social networking site based off of drupal. Let me tell you now.. I could have hand codded all the functionality needed in a 10th of the time it took me to learn the odd naming conventions(amongst other things). Sadly, a lot of opensource php applications are very poorly written and can make what should have been a simple task hard to accomplish. So, IMHO, if you have a site that requires a large amount of custom functionality and breaks outside the cookie cutter mold you may be better off writing it your self. It may save you time, money and headaches in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OM2 Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share Posted April 26, 2008 thanks for the reply. i'm considering starting with joomla as a start base. any thoughts on using that...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Little Guy Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 In my opinion, I would NEVER use a pre-written software for a website, maybe for features in the website, but NEVER for the actual web site its self. Why? 1. in the end you will have put in as much work as you would your own stuff 2. everyone else and their brother have the same software 3. it 90% of the time has lots of features you want but doesn't have. 4. it is not JavaScript enriched usually, so it is behind in its time 5. pride I would only use open source for things such as ideas of how something was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfmason Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 thanks for the reply. i'm considering starting with joomla as a start base. any thoughts on using that...? I agree with The Little Guy for the most part. However, I can see legitimate reasons for using pre-built cms if: 1) it is a simple site and needs to be pushed online quickly 2) you can't really hand code it your self 3) you have a client that thinks they need it otherwise I say write it your self. edit Also, I think one of the quotes in my sig applies nicely to this situation and most sites built off of applications like that: It's like polishing a turd. No matter how shiny it gets, it's still a turd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 I'd go with a with custom code as well. Modern frameworks will greatly cut down on the development time and will usually do most of the "tricky" things for you. With a forum like here for instance, I wouldn't bother creating my own though. There is no point in reinventing the wheel. Chances are your forum would have the exact same functionality as the existing products anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerRobot Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 2. To have a subscription system where users have to pay to use certain features and where viewers have to pay to view Not sure you'd have an awful lot of luck charging people for things on a social networking site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OM2 Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 2. To have a subscription system where users have to pay to use certain features and where viewers have to pay to view Not sure you'd have an awful lot of luck charging people for things on a social networking site. i completely disagree with you! firstly: forget making billions, or even millions. it depends on the subject and whats its about: is it really giving something to someone? someone doesnt have to be anyone - just someone. hey presto: u have a little ecomerce venture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM1 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 2. To have a subscription system where users have to pay to use certain features and where viewers have to pay to view Not sure you'd have an awful lot of luck charging people for things on a social networking site. i completely disagree with you! firstly: forget making billions, or even millions. it depends on the subject and whats its about: is it really giving something to someone? someone doesnt have to be anyone - just someone. hey presto: u have a little ecomerce venture. Um, no. Economics aren't that simple. You have to ask yourself two questions: Does OM2's social networking site offer anything unique that the competition hasn't capitalized on yet? Facebook and MySpace (to name two of the many out there) offer the following: music, videos, games, other addons/applications. Hell, I can learn Japanese through Facebook. What can you offer that they can't? Is whatever unique service/feature worth paying for? Will it be worth paying for after the competition copies it, or makes an even better version? I'm not trying to be the turd in the punchbowl, but if you're serious about making money with this project, you've got to ask yourself the hard questions. People aren't going to fork over their (or their parent's) hard-earned money just because you're (assumingly) a nice person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OM2 Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 2. To have a subscription system where users have to pay to use certain features and where viewers have to pay to view Not sure you'd have an awful lot of luck charging people for things on a social networking site. i completely disagree with you! firstly: forget making billions, or even millions. it depends on the subject and whats its about: is it really giving something to someone? someone doesnt have to be anyone - just someone. hey presto: u have a little ecomerce venture. Um, no. Economics aren't that simple. You have to ask yourself two questions: Does OM2's social networking site offer anything unique that the competition hasn't capitalized on yet? Facebook and MySpace (to name two of the many out there) offer the following: music, videos, games, other addons/applications. Hell, I can learn Japanese through Facebook. What can you offer that they can't? Is whatever unique service/feature worth paying for? Will it be worth paying for after the competition copies it, or makes an even better version? I'm not trying to be the turd in the punchbowl, but if you're serious about making money with this project, you've got to ask yourself the hard questions. People aren't going to fork over their (or their parent's) hard-earned money just because you're (assumingly) a nice person. ur problem is: u r right. but i still insist that i'm right. humans dont follow logic: so just because u r right, doesnt mean this is what will happen in the real world. i aint trying to get millions of users: just a few will do. there's some logic in my madness - trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 "u" and "r" are letters, not words... :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OM2 Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 i don hav tim 2 typ a gramticle corect mesg 2 u. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerRobot Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 i don hav tim 2 typ a gramticle corect mesg 2 u. I suggest you take some lessons in typing then. As for your comments regarding people paying for social networking, its just rediculous. The only way these sites work is because of the sheer number of people using them. What would be the point in facebook if no-one you knew was using it! You're simply not going to get a few users wanting to pay to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OM2 Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 not wanting to extend this conversation... forget the words 'social networking'. i may be at fault for mentioning this in the begining. i was simply after some of the functionalities of social networking websites. are u saying that there does not exist ANY subscription based websites where people pay for the content and services offered by the website?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfmason Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 not wanting to extend this conversation... forget the words 'social networking'. i may be at fault for mentioning this in the begining. i was simply after some of the functionalities of social networking websites. are u saying that there does not exist ANY subscription based websites where people pay for the content and services offered by the website?? This is completely off subject. Your original post was asking a question that could have easily been answered by a quick search. topic locked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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