OT: any website programmers here - for a hobby site??

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Posted By: Joe D.

I am thinking of putting together a hobby site.

A free site that I have no business model for - but maybe eventually there will be some sort of revenue stream (most likely advertising). Right now - I just want to get the site up and running for people to enjoy.


I contacted Trae (who I think puts together some great web stuff)....
but there would be a conflict of interest there - so he cannot help me.


Are there any other web programmers here who might be able to help?


Please email me if you can help or know someone who might be interested....
or if you prefer - and you will be at the National - we can have a beer together and discuss.



Regards,
Joe



(Leon - I hope this OT is okay... if not feel free to delete)

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Posted By: Anthony N.

Joe- what about some of the clients you work with? I'm sure they've got designers that can do this in their sleep, and you can always do it in trade.
You wouldn't have to worry about conflicts, and by getting someone from outside of the hobby you'll have a fresh approach.

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Posted By: Jason L

simpler, like Freewebs.com
You basically just use their template choices, rather than doing any true web programming, per se.

an option to think about is all, I'm not sure how complex you want it...

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Posted By: Joe D.

Thanks Anthony and Jason for your suggestions.

A couple of people have contacted me already and that is very much appreciated. Hopefully I am on my way.

If anyone else has that back-end website creation experience (database) / front-end also I guess - an email would be great.

Regards,
Joe

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

Joe,

If you want a real site done in PHP or another language and not just your run of the mill cookie cutter website. Then I suggest you use Craig List and place and ad there looking for programers. You will find plenty of people there that are looking for a good gig.

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Posted By: Ryan Williamson

email sent

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Posted By: Jared

I run several websites, and without knowing your specific requirements, this is my canned suggestion:

Purchase a domain name and hosting from GoDaddy and then install WordPress (it's a pushbutton install via the GoDaddy control panel). It's a straightforward blogging software that also works great as a general content management system. There are thousands of free templates and cool plugins available too -- you can also find great professional templates for cheap ($50-75). The support forums are very active, and you can get yourself up and running within a week with almost no programming overhead.

Wordpress: http://wordpress.org/
Example of free templates: http://graphpaperpress.com/
Example of professional templates: http://www.premiumwp.com/archive/2008/06/22/best-premium-wordpress-themes-collection/

I highly recommend that route if you want a site that's easy for YOU to update. Good luck!

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Posted By: Paul S

Hi Joe, As someone who did this for quite some time (no more), here's my 3 cents:
My best advice is to take the extra time to decide up front about what you have in mind down the line, because one of the biggest headaches will be to later start changing it over into something it wasn't designed/intended to be in the first place; for instance, swell looking graphics and design easily built with html, that you later want to "intergrate" a db,shopping cart, php, et al. while retaining the original look and feel. I've seen lots of time and money wasted on this approach.

If you must jump in, then like an above poster says, use a template, or custom design through whomever you choose to help you. Go into it thinking that you'll have to rebuild a second site later and can at least import some of the style and design at that point. Good luck!