Advice for making a social network

**brendan_qu** · 03-14-2010 09:47 PM

Hello fellow entrpreneurs!

I have a business idea that I am very confident in, and it relies fully upon my ability to create a social network upon which it will be based. It is not a typical social network, so for that reason, I would like to code it entirely by hand, so as to assure complete control every aspect of the website.

The problem is, I'm not sure where do start. I have done much research, but have only found instructions on how to build a social network with tools such as phpbb or drupal. If you have any tips on how to get started with this, or where I can look for guidance, please let me know, all help is much appreciated!

Regards,

Brendan

**dslackman** · 03-15-2010 10:58 AM

You didn't include your background, so this includes the basics.

HTML / XHTML
CSS
Javascript
Graphic Design
PHP or ColdFusion
A relational database like MYSQL
AJAX
SEO

Start with w3schools.com

Good luck

**brendan_qu** · 03-15-2010 05:17 PM

Thank you dslackman for your response.

I am sorry for being vague, here's a bit more information. I do web design on the side as a hobby, which is why I'm deciding to undertake the construction of this website by myself instead of hiring somebody. I have a firm grasp on xhtml and css of course, and am confident in my programming abilities with php, mysql, and ajax. Coldfusion is not something I have dabbled in, but from my understanding, I can just stick with php.. correct?

So what I actually meant to ask originally, is how do I put all of these skills and languages together. I don't understand how the "infrastructure" of this complex social networking site would come together. That is my question, sorry again for not being clear.

If you have any further advice, it would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Brendan

**noob** · 03-15-2010 07:43 PM

That's what being a programmer is. You need to figure out what functions and features you want your project to have, and from there figure out how the code will mesh. No one can tell you the format in which you need to code as there are multiple ways to write a function as there is to design a website.

**brendan_qu** · 03-15-2010 10:20 PM

"Noob", as true as that may be, considering I am fairly new to php, I am just looking for a little guidance. I understand fully that there is no one way to do something in the world of programming, I am simply looking for tips, or maybe a tutorial, anything to give me an idea of how to start.

If anyone has these tips, I'd be very grateful.

Kind Regards,

Brendan

**noob** · 03-16-2010 12:53 AM

How good are you at web development and php so far? Are you still learning or are you proficient enough where you can code already? Knowing this will at least help others guide you better.

**veikoh** · 03-16-2010 07:15 AM

Why don't you hire a professional from Guru.com for example? Those are not costing much... also there is lot of free open source social networking platforms available. Once I evaluated those - Veiko Herne Blog Archive Evaluating Social Networking portal software

**techieluke** · 03-16-2010 07:27 AM

Hi, You say you are fairly confident in most general web languages such as css html php etc etc. look into a cms called social engine. its not free, but i've used it for a low buget client and in all honesty it rips the open source cms's to pieces as long as you can edit a bit of code.... sorry to interupt "D

**faisallatif** · 03-16-2010 07:34 AM

hey brendan, if u want to make social network for getting some money, u must need to hire a professional team of experts or if u want a general social network just start it believing ur self.ur mistakes will lead u to the right place.

**brendan_qu** · 03-18-2010 08:18 PM

Thank you everyone for the responses!
So, in order to make a good social network, would the general consensus be to use a CMS and go from there?

**dslackman** · 03-18-2010 09:16 PM

You might take a look at ning.com also.

This would be a fast way to get started, if you can live within the limitations.

**noob** · 03-18-2010 09:27 PM

In my personal opinion, it is better to build it from scratch with specific feature sets you're looking to build if this is what you want to do. If you are proficient in programming, it should be relatively easy to mock up ideas on how to mesh the features you want coded into a platform for the social network.