Website Project

foid025

Hello. I'm starting a blogging website, and I am wondering if anyone might be interested in helping out. The concept is not already out there, and basically anyone with knowledge in programming or web design and is interested in working on a project, for profit, might want to read on... And regardless of whether you want to work / help, I would love your feedback on the idea. 🆒

Take a site like mySpace, and you might notice that it is wildly successful. (over 40,000,000 users, 7th most visited site on the web according to Alexa) I am working on a similar blogging / network site, but with a focus on families: Families would sign up and use the site to keep in touch with friends and family overseas, or just out of state, or even in state really... By making a network of relatives / friends, families would be able to swap blogs and photo albums, and send messages to keep in touch. Essentially 'Dad' could come back from vacation, upload a few of the pictures and write a blog about these same vacations, and then share with a private network of people, who would then write back and post their own experiences.

The concept is not new, but considering there is nothing pertaining to that specific niche of people, and the blogging scene is widely popular, I think the site might work... What do you think?

Roger_Ramjet

My niece went overseas with her mates, and used a site (whose name escapes me) for them all to keep in touch with all the families and friends. Filled it up with photos of their drunken antics from here to Oz and back. So its been done already. Which just proves it's a good idea. The issue is going to be intrastructure, server disk space and bandwidth if it's successfull - and who is gong to pay for that?

PS WAYN.com (where are you now) was on the news tother day being sold for silly amount of millions so I'd say you missed the boat with this, by about 3 years.

foid025

I missed the boat if I wanted to be the first one at it... but that doesn't necessarily mean it still won't work. The thing is, all these sites (mySpace, xanga, wayn, etc.) are meant for individuals, usually teens or young adults. This that I want to make is for a different group of people all together: families. So that means it must be more user friendly, more security / privacy, and overall it must attract a different crowd. That doesn't exist yet.

758

doesn't sound like a bad idea to me, i mean yes, there are many other web sites like that, but everyone might not be happy with those sites. They could be looking for better functionality, or easier use. Besides, all of the web sites that i have seen get invaded by flocks of teens, one of which has been me, but i think it would be a great idea to make something just for families. As for bandwidth and servers...I guess that just depends on whether the site takes off or falls through(not to be pessimistic).

foid025

758 wrote:
Besides, all of the web sites that i have seen get invaded by flocks of teens, one of which has been me

Haha yeah and me too - mySpace. But i gotta say, i only use mySpace cause all my friends do. Way too many ads for me otherwise. As for bandwith, yeah that's going to be a problem that I do not really know how to address. For image uploads, I have made a script to resize them all to 400 x 400, so they won't be more than 150kb more or less...

I guess at first I'll have to limit image uploads to like 10 or 20, and try to find myself a cheap host where I can get like 500mb. Any ideas in that regard?

Rodney_H_

If you were asking for a hosting recommendation, I like this hosting service: http://www.spoonohost.com/
2 gigs space
100 gigs bandwidth
unlimited mysql databases
phpMyAdmin
cpanel
fantastico
built in phpBB forum and shopping cart
choice of squirrel mail and another
lots of goodies at your finger tips

very easy to use...

758

you can just start with one of the lower end hosting packages on a good reliable host, and then if you need more bandwidth or something, just upgade the package! I havent ever used a hosting service so i dont really know where to direct you to for that.....

foid025

realistically, how much money can be made from ads? cause if I manage to get say... 500 signups, and we say there's perhaps 1000 unique visits daily, times a few page views, say, 5, thats 5000 views a day. Will that get enough to pay for hosting? Seems it should, as hosting shouldn't cost more than $10 a month...

758

I have no idea about how much can be made, i have never dealt with advertising either. But your estimate sounds about right. I'd try googles adsense to, i've heard its pretty good. From what i've found, hosting cost a little more than 10 dollars (20 - 30) for a domain and good hosting. If there is one for 10 bucks though, i havent seen it yet.

758

wait, i was wrong about hosting, Spoono host's "the plan" is only 8.75, and an extra 10 for a domain if you want one.

foid025

yea and its $10 a year, not a month (for the domain). im gonna keep looking around for the hosting though cuz i want something wit good service- my last site I had put up, my databases (mySQL) got deleted - 4 times in a row, to the point where i have now given up entirelly. yea i know its kind of stupid...

758

Man, 4 times.....I wouldve been screaming at their support team...
I run my own servers and i just bought a domain for them, but it takes a lot more effort to run your own servers than to get another company to do it.

_theworks

i use bluehost there pretty good... $6.95(USD) a month and u get 10gb space and 250gb bandwidth 😃 and i only had to pay $140NZD for an entire year of hosting and a domain. so thats what $70 USD?

foid025

dang 10gb space!! thats crazy haha. means I wont need to limit my users to 1mb photo space😉 haha good for them. yeah i think ill probably go with that. i can dish out $70, ill find a way (im in high school... soooo not rich)

758

wow, thats cheap! my domain was around....34.95 for the domain and custom DNS. I purchased it at dyndns.org, and it hasnt failed me yet!! It comes with Mywebhops and sub domains and all that good stuff to, the others might come with it all also, but I've only worked with dyndns.

piersk

I think for something like this, you'd probably have to host your own server in a datacentre somewhere, rather than hosting it on a shared server.

foid025

Yeah $35 is expensive! I guess it might be more reliable and have more features and what not - but not really worth it. I have been using register4less.com for a long time, and I think they're great. If you have a problem, send an email, chances are they'll get back to you in an hour - its amazing.

to piersk: you're probably right, but I dont have anywhere near the money needed... the bluehost plan pointed out seems pretty good, should do for now. Only problem: it tells me I can't sign up cause I am near computers that have been reported doing suspicious activities. wat the hell?? haha

758

suspicious activites???? thats a new one....
by the way, if you decide to start this, i can help you code some of the site if you want me too.

_theworks

Only problem: it tells me I can't sign up cause I am near computers that have been reported doing suspicious activities. wat the hell?? haha

ok thats weird... just go through one of those annonmyzer things.... or just email them there pretty helpfull and quick off the mark 2 😉

foid025

theworks: yeah I'll do that, cause this is kind of weird. Here is the full message I'm getting:

You or a computer near you has been flagged as being suspicious of fraudulent activities. Your computer may have been compromised by a virus. Immediately contact your ISP or your Proxy Server administrator to have the problem resolved, then try again.

Don't think i have a virus, but even if i do, how do they know?? haha

to 758: Thanks a lot for your interest. Is there anything in particular you'd like to work on? Like the messaging, or albums, or blogging, or networking?

Thanks all!