Undertaking a larger project - where to start?

[maxkool]

I'd like to ask you guys to point me in the right direction.

 

My background: I'm a beginner  I have a little bit of experience with procedural PHP coding and I'm reading up on object-oriented PHP. However, I've never worked with any PHP framework, though I do have a book on CakePHP that I purchased on a whim some time ago. I've also not used, nor learned about any existing Patterns. (in fact I've only just learned the term now that I've done a search on the forum )

 

I'm planning to start work on a pretty large project (compared with what I've done so far). I know this is usually not recommended for beginners like myself, but the way I figure it is that, since I want to have a modular approach to the whole thing anyway, it will be just like having several smaller projects to work on in sequence.

 

Here's what I'm trying to accomplish. The project consists of a web site where people will be able to a) search for local services (i.e. doctors in the area, taxi companies, etc.) and b) rate these services and write short descriptions / recommendations for them. I will also need to have a system for tracking user reputation, to avoid abusive conduct. (like some local business owner creating an army of clones to recommend his business) I may include a mapping system in the future but that's beyond the first Beta

 

Now, I've never worked on anything even remotely close to this in terms of magnitude and complexity. So my question is, where do you recommend I should start? Should I use a framework or just hand-code everything and maybe use snippets wherever available? Should I use a CMS and modify it? Can this be done with procedural PHP or should I first invest some more time in learning OO? What should I be reading up on?

 

These are some of the questions that spring to my mind as I contemplate how I will go about this project. So it would be awesome if anyone could offer pointers or advice on any of the above

 

Thanks in advance.

[ToonMariner]

if you are thinking of modular approach then definitely OOP.  I found that i leaned more writing code and then reviewing it.  you soon see where you can improve efficiency and vastly reduce the volume of code you need to perform even complex tasks....

 

As a side note - I saw a job advertisement just the other day looking for a developer to write complex code... I don't write complex code - I write simple code that combined can perform complex tasks...