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How do I create a Membership Website?

youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
Hey! What`s up guys?I`m actually quite a novice at creating websites. Its a shame really, I can only create the simple functional ones.Anyway, I`m just wondering what the prerequisites/components are for a membership website, aside from members of course.Thanks!
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Comments

  • stevesteve subscriber Posts: 14
    Let`s start with content. A reason to become a member.
  • asykesasykes subscriber Posts: 3
    what do you mean by "membership"? Are we talking forums or some other kind of application?
  • youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
    The one I`m intending to create is somewhat similar to this website we`re in: each member has a profile, and they have to have one in order to gain access to the forums and/or other resources in the site.What I need to know is the technical stuff behind this kind of website `cause I know nothing about it.Like:Can I run this from home?Do I really need to buy a server?Do I have to program or code this myself or can I buy this somewhere?And any other information you can give me...Thanks!
  • leadstudiosleadstudios subscriber Posts: 1
    To answer some of your questions:You don`t need a server. You can just get web hosting somewhere to host your website and they take care of the actual hardware. You take care of the web content and database if any. You can consider buying a server if things get serious and you need the full control.Yes you`ll probably have to program or code it. You should look it content managment systems like drupal, joomla, and xoop.  They are  "membership/community" based systems that you can install on your website and configure a lot of it through a web interface without having to code too much.And if you have money, of course you can buy it somewhere or get someone to build it.... We actually just implemented one using drupal core with heavy customization:  http://spotthegroove.comAny questions, let me know. Good luck!-Brandon
  • youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
    Thanks for the info! But then which of these three (Drupal, Joomla, Xoop) is the most:User friendly?Easy to manage?Reliable?Or does anyone have other suggestions? I am a novice at this after all so I need the simplest one to use By the way, how much money does it take to create this kind of a website? Not including the costs of marketing and all that, just the actual cost of creating the website and getting it to operate.Thanks!
  • RichardBuggyRichardBuggy subscriber Posts: 4
    Thanks for the info! But then which of these three (Drupal, Joomla, Xoop) is the most:

    Hi youdontknowme

    My preference is for Drupal. It seems to be the most flexible of the
    lot. You`ll probably want to install a couple of add-ons (like the
    WYSIWYG editor). I`m using it for my next site www.webdevtv.com (yes, I`m running a little late on producing the content).

       Rich
  • leadstudiosleadstudios subscriber Posts: 1
    I prefer Drupal as well. Its quite powerful and with all the add on modules, you can do quite a bit without having to do much coding. On the flip side, you can also customize, expand and do just about anything you want if you do want to code around the drupal core.As for cost, here`s a breakdown You can probably find deals around to save you more $$ so its just approximate.$10 for domain name/yearSay $10-30 a month for web hosting depending on what kind of package you are looking atWhen you look for hosting, look for one that provides "cpanel" or something similar. Basically its a powerful web interface that allows you to control many aspects of your web server, including installing things like Drupal, bulletin boards and other software all via web console. Makes things a little easier if you aren`t too familiar with some of the techincal details.Biggest cost will probably be your time and learning that you`ll need to do but that`s the norm when you are just starting out.Brandon
  • RichardBuggyRichardBuggy subscriber Posts: 4
    You might also want to allocate some money for the site design and turning it into a Drupal template. The best way to save money here is to think about what you want the site to look like before you visit a web designer/developer. When you approach them try to provide examples of layouts and color schemes that you like (or hate). The better the brief you give them the faster they can do your design/template and the cheaper it will be.
  • youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
    Okay I`ve gotten Drupal and I have extracted it and installed it, but the thing is when I try to do the "www.yourdomain.com/where_you_extracted_Drupal" part I can`t see anything. The only thing I see is a big fat Internal Server Error message.What does this mean? Does this have anything to do with the fact that I`m practicing using FreeHostia.com? I am confused hahahaha..I`m thinking about using BlueHost.com when I go official, is that advisable?btw RichardBuggy, where can I get that WYSIWYG editor?
  • leadstudiosleadstudios subscriber Posts: 1
    Not familiar with Freehostia but had a quick look at their site. They support php and mysql database so it should be okay. It sounds like your install isn`t configured correctly.  When you extracted drupal, there are a few text files "install.txt" and "install.mysql.txt" that you need to refer to to tell you how to install drupal and setup the database to connect to. There`s also a database script (in the /database folder) that you also have to run after you`ve created the database. This will load the default values to get the default drupal running.As for Bluehost, its pretty good. Haven`t had any issues with them so far. The drupal site that we just implemented is hosted on it right now.The one WYSIWYG editor for drupal that I have used is "TinyMCE". It can be found here http://drupal.org/project/ModulesYou`ll also see lots of other modules that you can add on to your site. But of course you need to get the thing running first before you start to add modules!
  • youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
    I`m not sure what I did wrong though..I extracted the drupal.tr.gz into /www/mydomain.com/drupalI went to the MySQLDatabase and created an account on PhpMyAdminThe database extracted into my account in PhpMyAdminI configured the settings.php in /sites/defaultMust be in the values I put in the settings.php `cause I wasn`t sure about the username:password@localhost/databasename part.Is the username and password there the same one I use to log into my admin account or is it the one I use to log into PhpMyAdmin? Also about that local host thing, how do I find out what my local host is?Oh
    yeah, and does the fact that I have an index.html in my root folder
    have any effect on this? Is drupal supposed to be in the
    /www/mydomain.com/ or is it okay that I put it in the
    /www/mydomain.com/drupal/?I suck hahahaha!youdontknowme2006-11-9 20:38:56
  • leadstudiosleadstudios subscriber Posts: 1
    You are on the right track. No worries though, its not the easiest when just starting out.The settings.php file is key:username:password@localhost/databasenameWhen you created the drupal database, I assume you also created a mysql user that has permissions to access the database. That is the username:password you need to put. Leave localhost as is. Also in the settings.php file, look for a line "base_url" or something like that. You need to uncomment it and put the path to your drupal installation since you didn`t put it in your root. So something like http://www.website.com/drupalIts even more difficult sometimes when trying on a hosting server since you don`t have the same control as you would if you were working on your own computer.  What I do is actually have websites running on my computer, fully functional by  creating everything locally, that is run my own web server and database. That way I can edit the files on the fly and test things without having to work off a hosting server. Maybe I`ll start a thread on that later.
  • youdontknowmeyoudontknowme subscriber Posts: 6
    That`s what I did but there`s this part that just keeps on bugging me:
    GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX,     ALTER, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES     ON databasename.*     TO [url=mailto:`username`@`localhost`]`username`@`localhost`[/url] IDENTIFIED BY `password`;
    Every time I do it I get Error #1044..It keeps on sayng that I don`t have permission blahblahblah. I`m pretty sure the info I put in were all correct but it keeps on saying that I don`t have permission.
  • RichardBuggyRichardBuggy subscriber Posts: 4
    GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX,     ALTER, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES     ON databasename.*     TO [url=mailto:%27username%27@%27localhost%27]`username`@`localhost`[/url] IDENTIFIED BY `password`;I`d be suprised if this worked. Every hosting company I`ve ever used requires you to create MySQL users using your admin control panel. Try looking in the control panel (probably the same place you created the database) for somewhere to create a user and associate it with the database.
  • RichardBuggyRichardBuggy subscriber Posts: 4
    btw RichardBuggy, where can I get that WYSIWYG editor?http://drupal.org/project/tinymce
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