Archived I have a good idea for a "new facebook", but don't know how to code. What should i do? (technology)
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Archived I have a good idea for a "new facebook", but don't know how to code. What should i do? (technology)
submitted ago by random_user_writing
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[–] itsmemom97 ago (edited ago)
I'm going to offer another opinion than "don't" and "let others do it".
Go and install a Content Management System (a CMS).That will allow you to create a more than basic website without any programming.
Yes, I know there will be many people who will advocate that you need to program to make a CMS do what you want, but that is not true. All CMS's have the possibility to install extra modules to extend functionality.
No, I'm not saying that your finished product will be completely made of standard components. But your prototype will be.
Because you have some experience with html, css and jquery, I would advise you to go with one of these well-known CMS's, in order of complexity
Wordpress (wordpress.org is the open source software, wordpress.com is the commercial blog-provider)
Joomla
Drupal
Typo3
These are all open-source, free (as in free speech AND free beer) solutions, with a huge backing community and a professional development team behind it.
Wordpress is the least complex of those four. Easy to set up, easy to administer, easy to expand. But a bit limited in layout options and customizability. I use Wordpress to really quickly put up a site - but I feel the CMS can't shake it's roots of being a bloggin system.
Joomla is somewhat more complex, but has a lot of well-written modules to expand functionality, and has a nice templating system with regions to create custom layouts.
Drupal is a complex CMS where everything that is content is abstracted to something called a 'node'. Which is really powerful if you know how to use it, but overwhelming if you're just starting out. My go-to CMS nowadays is Drupal, but it took me a while to understand the concepts.
Typo3 is, in my opinion, too technical to apply to the general audience, and more of an Enterprise CMS. But if you're into programming and PHP, it can do things no other CMS can.
If you want to go this route, how do you set up your site? You've got a couple of options. In no order whatsoever:
use a commercial provider of ready-to-go CMS solutions. Pay and start building. I have no experience with those, so can't recommend any.
download a virtual machine (webserver) with the cms ready & configured (like Turnkey Linux machines for Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal). Run them in Oracle VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation Player (both proprietary but free as in free beer, for personal use anyway)
Setup a development environment on your own machine, based on a LAMPP (Linux), XAMPP (Linux) or WAMPP (Windows) stack (the basis infrastructure for the CMS, consisting of an Apache webserver, a MySQL database, PHP and Perl). Just download and install this basis, then get the installation package for Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal or Typo3.
Then the fun can begin. Build a prototype that works as well as you can. Then, when you know what the possibilities are, you can write a business plan. Now, and only now you have something to show to investment bankers, dragons and your wife or your mum.
GLHF! (good luck, have fun!) - if you want to do this as a co-op, shoot me a pm.