Software Project Update & Initial Release Info
Some people were asking for an update to my software project though I didn’t think there was much point in blogging about it as with the exception of the autoresponder problem, which I no longer think is a problem, any issues I have faced so far have been technical ones. Still for the geeks amongst you, here’s the latest…
A while ago I tinkered with some content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal but seeing as the bulk of the site is going to be the tools that I develop myself I decided that it would have been too much effort to try and fit my code around a CMS so instead I have been looking at simply building the site from scratch with the help of a PHP Framework.
There were three PHP frameworks on my short list – the Zend Framework, CakePHP and CodeIgnighter. I haven’t had time to really build something with them all but I browsed the documentation and I had bought some PHP books and a couple of them had examples using Zend. So far I have built a site using the Zend Framework and also built a user management sytstem that allows users to register, login and so on to test it out. That works fine and the Zend Framework is pretty powerful however I have also managed to integrate aMember with it successfully.
One of the reasons I wanted to use a CMS over building the site from scratch is that my design skills suck and I wanted to be able to use a nice template for the layout and design of the site. Both Drupal and Joomla have support for templates that are just like WordPress ones. However I discovered that you can also get templates that are built using pure HTML & CSS and so I am using one of these and integrating it with my PHP application using the Smarty template engine.
I’m currently working with a template called New Fangled which I got from the Free CSS templates website so that has solved my design issues. My other concern was that I didn’t want to be having to write my own blogging system if I wanted to include a blog on the site (which I will) but I’m hoping that I can just download an existing PHP package that does that for me. It’s low priority though so I’ll worry about that later.
Release Information
I kind of have more of a plan now. My overall goal is to build a suite of tools – around a dozen of them which will all be very useful in isolation but can also work together to be even more useful. However I plan to release the software in stages, adding a few tools each time and increasing the price as I go :-) Note that members will lock in their monthly fee when they join so anyone who joins on the first release will keep the lowest price point for as long as they stay a member even as the price increases for new members. This should make it easier to get those first few members.
To get the ball rolling I’ll start off by releasing the free version and will restrict members initially so I can test out the basic stuff and iron out teething problems early on. I’m only going to be releasing this here on this blog. Eventually once the paid version is complete there will be an affiliate program but to be honest that is probably a way off as I would want to be really sure that I had sorted out any technical issues (and I know I’ll get them!) before asking others to promote it for me so this probably wont happen until at least the second paid release. I have three releases planned so far in addition to the free one – and no I don’t have any timescales :-)
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We are in the same boat, Caroline, even my designing skills suck. But will be waiting to see your CMS.
BTW, what’d you be calling it?
Sounds good Caroline, I look forward to seeing your first tool!
@Chetan, I’m not building a CMS – I’ll building a custom site from scratch without the use of a CMS. I don’t want to reveal the name just yet :-)
Personally I learned most PHP from looking at Wordpress. But one of the books I think is the best is “PHP and MYSQL Web development”. I use it as a reference book.
I’ve messed around with Drupal and Joomla and I think they are very bloated for most websites.
Nowadays I only mess with PHP in conjunction with Wordpress. I avoid it if I can. It really is a ugly language.
But if your gonna do stuff from “scratch” then Django and Python is the way to go in my opinion. And the best book is “Python Web development with Django”. You can basically do any type of website after you’ve gone through that book. Really simple and easy to read. Don’t have to know any programming.
How come you went the PHP road?
I am not much of a techie so this is waaay over my head, but I wish you luck anyway. Maybe it will be VERY user friendly so that me, a monkey, can use it.
Jae
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“I have been looking at simply building the site from scratch with the help of a PHP Framework.” Oh Caroline, you make me laugh. Building the site from scratch would not be “simple” for the majority of people. That is valuable knowledge you have.
Sounds like a great plan. I guess you are a bit inspired by the some toolboxes offered in the mmo niche, sounds like a very smart way to spend your main resources.
@Andreas, PHP is a well established language for web development and has a ton of support. Plus as a software engineer, it is just a very useful skill to add to my resume.
@Barbra, well no it’s not simple at all because I’m also having to learn PHP and tons of other little technicalities that I haven’t mentioned here! That’s why it’s taking so long hehe :)
Blog integration — If you are already in PHP mode, integration of WP into your theme/system should be pretty straight forward. You could probably even outsource it. Basic Wordpress themes are pretty simple…so integration should be as well.
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@Caroline Middlebrook
I have never met a software developer that programs in PHP either in private or work related. Its mostly C#/ASP.Net or Python. Thats why I always find it strange that people newcomers mostly starts out with that language.
My friends laughed when I told them about my PHP endeavors hehe. Initiate variables after you have sent them to a method or the method does not read them (sometimes). Is like WTF?
Hope you hit fewer language absurdities than I did when I started out. Lost a lot of hair back then lol.
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All this web creation stuff is way over the top of my head. Good luck with the project anyway, you tech head!!
As for me, I’ll just stick with Wordpress- do what I can and outsource the rest.
Any advanced notice on what kinds of tools? My mind keeps flipping to shoemoney and, well….hoping for a different approach.
Dennis Edells last blog post..100 Marketers Give 100 Strategies – Recommended!
It was so good to hear from you after some time. Your posts serve as inspiration to a lot of bloggers even if your blog post topic has nothing to do with their interest.
I too am in the process of learning the nitty-gritties of PHP and in the process have designed a few templates for Wordpress. Wordpress templates were one of the most amusing things that I have ever seen and that is what dragged me into PHP. I am not a trained web designer, so learning PHP is taking some time but because I had learnt other languages earlier, I am not finding it difficult.
Anyways all the best for your project and would love to keep hearing from you.
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@Andreas, C#/ASP are strong languages for desktop application development but not so much for the web. Here languages such as PHP, ruby, python etc are much more suited.
@Dennis, I don’t want to say too much at the moment but I think Shoe’s tools are aimed at affiliate marketers who do PPC and that’s not my focus at all.
I was minly referring to the fact that decent free counterparts to most (if not all) of his tools can be found with minimal effort.
I do realize that nowadays that can be said of just about any tool, but the fees really shouldn’t be so high….just for “convenience” sake.
Dennis Edells last blog post..100 Marketers Give 100 Strategies – Recommended!
@Dennis, you’ve hit on something there that I disagree on – I DO in fact believe that you can charge a high price for convenience! That could make a good blog post actually! Stay tuned :-)
And a controversial one at that! I look forward to the post, but be forewarned – there my be a cross-post comin’ at ya afterward. ;)
Dennis Edells last blog post..100 Marketers Give 100 Strategies – Recommended!
@Caroline, when reading this post one question comes to mind. Why aren’t you outsourcing this project to someone with even greater technical skills? I’m sure you would be able to not only get it done really cheap but you would also save yourself A LOT of time.
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upgrade a good sofware take time the first one that I did in fact sucks but I give a second try and takes my a long time but I did it by myselft and was very amazing, if any one believe that they can do it you will do it believe me because I do it
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