Advice on a website idea?

Dave!

Hey folks,

I'm hoping to get a website up and running, and I've got a decent enough idea that I think could fly...

Without going into detail on the particulars of the site, it'll take the following form:

* members register
* 2 different types of member - type_a and type_b
* type_a registers with details like name, age, location, etc.
* type_b registers with different details like company, location, etc.

* type_b will be able to search/filter the list of type_a's by the information contained in their profile, e.g., type_b wants males aged between 18 and 23 in Dublin, so they should be able to select those parameters and get a list of people that meet that criteria, based on their profile.

*type_b will then be able to contact those people en masse, by email.


If I think of more details I'll post them up ! But does that sound feasible? I gather it's quite possible of course, but is it hard to implement? I'm currently trying to learn how to use Joomla, is there a module for that that would do the job? I just downloaded 'Community Builder', is that any use?

Thanks guys, much obliged !

JDxtra

Not strictly related to your question, but would there be an incentive for type_a to register?

PCPhoto

so in simple english you want people ("A" and "B") to sign up to a website so that "B" may spam "A".

doesnt seem right for one thing - also, I hope you are aware that spamming is illegal. (unless of course you are a politician and theres an election coming...then its called canvassing)

Dave!

JDxtra wrote: »

Not strictly related to your question, but would there be an incentive for type_a to register?

Altruism

PCPhoto wrote: »

so in simple english you want people ("A" and "B") to sign up to a website so that "B" may spam "A".

doesnt seem right for one thing - also, I hope you are aware that spamming is illegal. (unless of course you are a politician and theres an election coming...then its called canvassing)

I didn't give any details about the particulars of the site, so your post is just speculation. And I'm looking for advice on how to implement the site, not your moral judgment on it.

So as to avoid any future commentary and speculation: suffice to say it is a charity website, not a business one.

Pixelcraft

It's not spam if they sign up for it. OP, what's your level of experience? it's going to be hard to say if you can do it or not knowing nothing about you.

Dave!

I'm not terribly experienced tbh... I've just finished (results pending ) a computer science degree. That didn't involve much web design unfortunately, but I'm fairly computer literate at least! I taught myself html and css, and have made 3 or 4 basic (static) websites over the last few years (had a couple online also, but nothing came of them so I let them die). Now that I'm outa college with no prospect of a job , I'm hoping to improve my web design knowledge by messing around with php, and a few CMS's, and so on, and maybe do a short course or two, and work on a few ideas I have. Maybe build a football website for a local team or whatever

So let's say I'm computer and website literate, compotent, but by no means proficient

ocallagh

I can think of a few instances where this would be helpful and where type_a would want to register. Film industry would be one where type_a are union members with irish equity and type_b are the film producers.

Is this for a specific project or some sort of generic system?

Anyway it would be easy enough to do. I'm sure Joomla allows for member groups allowing different member fields (I know EE does) and with that you could identify user types by just associating them with either group a or group b. Groups can also have permissions to access certain areas of the site etc. Then it would be a matter of building a few custom add-ons to your CMS to allow you to search these user groups.

So in short, yes this would be very easy to setup for someone with a bit of experience working with CMS tools.

ScumLord

It sounds a bit like a spammers database so maybe you should research along those lines. Your basically looking to put people into groups that charity's can cross reference to find the ideal volunteer? I'm sure I've seen some group modules for both Joomla and Drupal but I 'm not sure how suitable they are I just came across them haven't actually tried using any.

ocallagh

Also...

If you are starting out as a php developer and want to learn a little about customising CMS's, I would highly recommend staying clear of Joomla.It is a bitch to unravel.. I found Expression Engine much easier to get to grips with when I started out with php.

Dave!

Thanks fellas It's probably a bit complicated for someone just starting out, so I reckon I'll shelf it for the time being and start working on the football club website I'll come back to this once I've gained a bit more experience

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!