Creating a wesbite - What & who do I need?

[Dr Usman]

Hi guys,

I would really appreciate some help on web site production. I would like to create a website that allows user interaction, profile creation, searches etc like for example www.yell.co.uk,www.trustedplaces.com, yahooanswers. Can anyone give me some advice as to what sort of people I need and what qualities would they need to have? Or can anyone suggest people/firms that can create these sort of projects bearing in mind it cost. I dont need anything as large as yahoo answers but maybe on a smaller scale!
From my basic research on the topic so far i think I would def need a web designer and a programmer.

All replies will be much appreciated

Thanks guys
Usman

[Meadsy]

Hi Usman,

You will certainly need a developer, and a designer because everything needs to look good. As a designer / developer I would love to chat to you more about your requirments. Please feel free to take a look at my portfolio and feel free to let me know if you would like to discuss further.

Cheers
Rich

[Dr Usman]

Thanks Rich for your quick reply!

Will def have a look at your work and get back to you. Will i also need a programmer too though?

[Meadsy]

good news. Yes you will need a developer which I can sort for you too.

Cheers

[Jarvooo]

Hi Usman,

If possible, do you want to drop me an email to colin@jarviswebandgraphicsolutions.co.uk, id be happy to discuss this project further.

Regards

[shamrocker]

You can achieve all these fatures with Joomla (www.joomla.org) an open source (no cost) content management system. There is a huge range of extensions available which will enable you to create a community based site. It takes a bit of getting used to but is a very good solution once you get to grips with it. If you search for a few video tutorials you will get a good feel for what it is all about and how to customise it for your needs.

[Dr Usman]

Originally Posted by shamrocker

You can achieve all these fatures with Joomla (www.joomla.org) an open source (no cost) content management system. There is a huge range of extensions available which will enable you to create a community based site. It takes a bit of getting used to but is a very good solution once you get to grips with it. If you search for a few video tutorials you will get a good feel for what it is all about and how to customise it for your needs.

Biggg thanks Shane, thats a great help. I have heard of joomla being thrown around in blogs and youtube but didnt quite know what it was, just assumed it was a language that I couldnt learn and never will! will go and research on it now...

btw does that mean sites like twitter etc are written in joomla?

[shamrocker]

Joomla isn't a programming language, it's an actual program just like a piece of software.

It's database driven and just needs to be loaded into your hosting account. You can install a suitable template and some extensions or components quite easily to give the site finctionality and an appearance that matches the context of the site.

You don't need any web design or programming knowledge, but it does come in handy at times. As I said earlier, it can be a steep learning curve initially but is well worth the time invested, particularly if you wish to regularly update or change the content on the site.

I have found that the Joomla based site will work very well from a search engine optimisation point of view too - with a few tricks thrown in.

Just get stuck in and learn as you go. It might be worth investing a few quid in getting someone to set everything up and to show you the basics of how the site works. This would get you on the right track a lot more quickly than learning from your own mistakes.

[Dr Usman]

Originally Posted by shamrocker

Joomla isn't a programming language, it's an actual program just like a piece of software.

It's database driven and just needs to be loaded into your hosting account. You can install a suitable template and some extensions or components quite easily to give the site finctionality and an appearance that matches the context of the site.

You don't need any web design or programming knowledge, but it does come in handy at times. As I said earlier, it can be a steep learning curve initially but is well worth the time invested, particularly if you wish to regularly update or change the content on the site.

I have found that the Joomla based site will work very well from a search engine optimisation point of view too - with a few tricks thrown in.

Just get stuck in and learn as you go. It might be worth investing a few quid in getting someone to set everything up and to show you the basics of how the site works. This would get you on the right track a lot more quickly than learning from your own mistakes.

Shane, again, your the man! I have done a little research into Joomla and watched some tutorials on youtube..It does seem quite enticing to start off with but as you suggested it would be better to ask someone to start the site off and then maintain it myself or something. Many thanks again..ps can you recommend any web designers/programmers?
I've even thought about exporting the production of the site to india to reduce costs but still looking into this in more detail. Any recommendations with this regard?

[shamrocker]

Try www.joomladesigns.co.uk where you can download as many templates as you want for 25Euros. They will provide you with a small amount of support on basic tweaks but will also provide costs for undertaking bigger jobs.

There are lots of other sites that offer Joomla templates too.

It's one of those things where you would reap lots of benefits from trying to learn about it yourself from all the tutorials available online. It takes a while to grasp but you will be able to put pretty much any site you wish together once you have learnt the basics. You really need to learn and understand the way the site works first before moving on from there.

Have a look at the Extensions section of www.joomla.org and you will be able to see the scope that is available to you. Installing extensions is very quick and easy and you site can have some excellent functions as a result.

I would offer you more help on installation, etc. but unfortunately time is of the essence for me right now. I've got my hands full with other stuff that needs doing urgently. However, feel free to ask question whenever necessary.

All the information is out there so just get stuck in.

[Jarvooo]

I personally think Joomla is a great starting point for the project, it can help to get someone to set it up, design etc but from there customisation is very easy and implementation of new pages etc

[shamrocker]

Originally Posted by Jarvooo

......and implementation of new pages etc

You mean 'articles'?

I've seen a few people pulled up on that one. It's difficult from a beginner point of view to understand that there aren't any pages, just articles positioned where you want them i.e. linked to a menu or module.

That's as I understand it anyway, as I'm by no means an expert.

[sadieknight]

Yes you are right Shane - they are referred to as articles, however from a frond end point of view they can be made to appear as pages do on most websites. Though doing so can be a right pain in the bum and I've been known to click through many different sections in the admin area to get to the right bit - and we've been using Joomla for some time lol!

I tend to use either term interchangably as it can confuse people who are not accustomed to Joomla.

The only downside we've found with Joomla is that the admininistration panel can be somewhat confusing to people who are not familiar with it, the learning curve is quite steep working out where everything is!

Having said that its an extremely good CMS with loads of plugins and additional features. Forum integration with phpbb3 works well - though can be a little fiddly at times we found!

Sadie

[Dr Usman]

Ok I have another question....in relation to building this site, is using Ruby on Rails or other similar platforms useful or even better than joomla for creating a good social networking site which may be fairly complex in its structure and workings?

PS: If my questions sound stupid please forgive my ignorance! I am not a web wizz like you guys!.. (sigh)

[Efficacepro]

Sorry to gatecrash your gig Dr Usman - How do Joomla sites perform on search engines?