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Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
Hi everyone, thanks for reading this post!

I am a student and I want to put together a website for my fellow university students.

It needs to have a facebook log in, minimalist look (think microsoft flat tile-like buttons on the xbox/phones) and easy to use feel. It needs to have a search bar that will search through a list of content that I will provide. It also needs to have a user "command centre / profile management".


I am giving myself 4 months to complete this website as i am planning to launch it beginning of september.

I know the very basics of HTML/CSS. I also have quite a lot of programming experience in C (if that applies). The problem is that I've never actually built a website. I've only coded programs that ran in the command line / Terminal window.

I am able to pick up new languages fairly quickly but I just don't quite know where to begin.

Suppose that i can get access to any software on Mac OSX or Windows.
Which one do you recommend ?

Photoshop/Dreamweaver?

Thanks in advance!
 

Tomorrow

macrumors 604
Mar 2, 2008
7,160
1,364
Always a day away
It needs to have a facebook log in

Is this really a need? If so, why?

It needs to have a search bar that will search through a list of content that I will provide.

You most likely will need to incorporate some sort of database functionality. PHP and MySQL are a popular combination for this.

Photoshop/Dreamweaver?

If you're going for a minimalist approach, Photoshop isn't going to be the answer. Dreamweaver gets knocked around quite a bit, but I've used it with success.
 

manueld

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2009
257
3
Why not start with a CMS? Wordpress/Joomla/Drupal -- i believe there's a plugin for each of those that allow using facebook credentials to log in.
 

960design

macrumors 68040
Apr 17, 2012
3,691
1,548
Destin, FL
Hi everyone, thanks for reading this post!
Your welcome! We like reading and answering.

I am a student and I want to put together a website for my fellow university students.
Okay, gotcha, outstanding.

It needs to have a facebook log in, minimalist look (think microsoft flat tile-like buttons on the xbox/phones) and easy to use feel. It needs to have a search bar that will search through a list of content that I will provide. It also needs to have a user "command centre / profile management".
Check, check, check and check

I am giving myself 4 months to complete this website as i am planning to launch it beginning of september.
Wow! A pro could finish this in 10 minutes. You... an hour?

I know the very basics of HTML/CSS. I also have quite a lot of programming experience in C (if that applies). The problem is that I've never actually built a website. I've only coded programs that ran in the command line / Terminal window.

I am able to pick up new languages fairly quickly but I just don't quite know where to begin.
HTML5 - for the site structure
CSS3 - for the look and feel of the site
PHP - for the backend processing, database, current user, the cool stuff
Javascript ( or jQuery for an easier intro ) - to make the site do all sorts of cool stuff on the web user side (client)

Suppose that i can get access to any software on Mac OSX or Windows.
Which one do you recommend ?

Photoshop/Dreamweaver?

You need MAMP for Mac, WAMP for windows to build a test server on your local computer. Google and read up on how to set it up.

For the CMS I'd recommend Wordpress.org. Just download and install into a folder under MAMP or WAMP. Run the install, search for minimalistic themes, search comes prebuilt, do a search for social icon plugins if your theme doesn't include them.

For textediting the site, you could use the clunky but useful editor inside Wordpress ( not recommended but it's in there ).
Here's a partial list of editors: Coda2, Sublime Text 2, Text Wrangler, Notepad++, Dreamweaver ( I don't really like this one, but it works ), Netbeans, Bluefish,

There are so many, you'll just have to find the one you like. I've listed some for windows, linux, MacOS X

Good luck

PS Oh yeah, in the end if you want this hosted to the world you will need a web host. Do a quick google search for the best web hosts for 2013 and see what pops up. I've used justhost (awesome and free backups), hostgator ( awesome as well, haven't used it this year ), go daddy ( hate it, hate it, hate it ).
 

Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
Is this really a need? If so, why?



You most likely will need to incorporate some sort of database functionality. PHP and MySQL are a popular combination for this.



If you're going for a minimalist approach, Photoshop isn't going to be the answer. Dreamweaver gets knocked around quite a bit, but I've used it with success.

Logging in with facebook is way more popular with college students than signing up with email :p

----------

Your welcome! We like reading and answering.

Okay, gotcha, outstanding.

Check, check, check and check

Wow! A pro could finish this in 10 minutes. You... an hour?


HTML5 - for the site structure
CSS3 - for the look and feel of the site
PHP - for the backend processing, database, current user, the cool stuff
Javascript ( or jQuery for an easier intro ) - to make the site do all sorts of cool stuff on the web user side (client)



You need MAMP for Mac, WAMP for windows to build a test server on your local computer. Google and read up on how to set it up.

For the CMS I'd recommend Wordpress.org. Just download and install into a folder under MAMP or WAMP. Run the install, search for minimalistic themes, search comes prebuilt, do a search for social icon plugins if your theme doesn't include them.

For textediting the site, you could use the clunky but useful editor inside Wordpress ( not recommended but it's in there ).
Here's a partial list of editors: Coda2, Sublime Text 2, Text Wrangler, Notepad++, Dreamweaver ( I don't really like this one, but it works ), Netbeans, Bluefish,

There are so many, you'll just have to find the one you like. I've listed some for windows, linux, MacOS X

Good luck

PS Oh yeah, in the end if you want this hosted to the world you will need a web host. Do a quick google search for the best web hosts for 2013 and see what pops up. I've used justhost (awesome and free backups), hostgator ( awesome as well, haven't used it this year ), go daddy ( hate it, hate it, hate it ).

There is a lot of features i want to add :) But I'm giving myself 4 months because of the data entry I'll need to do. I was planning on hosting it on hostgator, seems like the most popular choice. I will check justhost !

Thank you very much for the useful reply! :D
 

fig

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2012
916
83
Austin, TX
Logging in with facebook is way more popular with college students than signing up with email :p

I think the question was more intended as "why is a log in required for the site?"

Good answers all around though, 960 had some good info for you in particular.
 

Tony0693

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
29
0
I think the question was more intended as "why is a log in required for the site?"

Good answers all around though, 960 had some good info for you in particular.

The students need to have access to their own user page. Think a bit like subscriptions for youtube .. :)
 

chaos86

macrumors 65816
Sep 11, 2003
1,006
7
127.0.0.1
Wordpress is not a full CMS, it's a blogging engine that too many programmers pretend is a full CMS, and beat up until it sort of acts like one.
 
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