I am in the process of developing a HotOrNot.com style website. To my luck, there are a good amount of pre-packaged PHP scripts available for sale. The top contenders include:
I-Rater:
http://www.i-rater.com/
K-Rate:
http://turn-k.net/k-rate
MiPhoto:
http://www.microscripts.net/product/miphoto
MiPhoto is currently my top choice. Even though I was only able to find a few positive comments about it, there was a good amount of complaints concerning I-Rater and K-Rate. Plus, the programmer offers custom coding which is an absolute necessity and the Admin Panel has a nice interface. While I’m very good with computers, I have no experience with Web Design so I apologize in advance if these are basic questions.
I would like to completely change the look of the site. The programmer states that the user area runs off templates and one “can easily change the look of the site if you know HTML code.” But, a post on this forum stated, “If they don't use a solid Templating System - it might be too much of a hassle to redo the design.” I don’t know what that is, but if I hired a freelancer to change the look using HTML, how hard would that be? Is there any indication that it does use a solid templating system? To view the templates, go HERE and click on “Templates” on the left. Also, I don’t know where the PHP script ends and HTML begins. What flexibility do I have with the HTML? If I don’t want “Top Girls” on the right of every page, is that HTML? If I want to add an advertisement box or banner, is that HTML?
A review of I-Rater stated,
“i-rater is not coder properly for a high traffic site. it's basically
a nice front with crappy coding underneath. you'll experience tons of
mysql crashing problems do the the fact that they code a open session
timer for mysql. meaning a user visits and mysql stays open for 5mins
with his/her session even if they left the site after 30secs.”
Another said,
“It is awfully programmed, my database was inflating like mad, mainly because it kept a record of EVERY SINGLE rating with its matching value (talk about some basic math here! instead of saving a value "number of ratings" multiplied by the average rating value, it saved thousands and thousands of single ratings with a matching number, so basically if you have more than 100 users a day your db will explode)”
Obviously this is why I’m not getting I-rater (even though I think they have updated). But these are the sort of problems that I don’t really know what they are, but I don’t want them to happen. Is there anyway to confirm or test that MiPhoto script to ensure it runs fluidly with high traffic (i.e. is it good coding)? Since MiPhoto has custom coding I would assume that means they could also recode any potential problem areas.
MiPhoto does not include the source code. It is available for a substantial fee that I am not yet ready to pay (maybe if the site takes off 🙂 ). How much of a disadvantage is this?
Any other comments? I would consider custom coding, but I think it would be much more expensive.
