Need help with where my website is headed.

[Bzee]

Hey everyone,

I started ND-Source.com a week or so ago with intentions of making it a heavy-traffic web directory where I could help out local (and by local I mean state-wide) businesses as well as tourism, etc.

However I've come to the conclusion that I cannot just leave it a directory and ship it out to search engines; I really need content. And I figure I have room to spread my legs given my site's topic: North Dakota. Thus came about three solutions:

1) Articles - Have users comment and create articles related to ND.
2) Forums - Daily discussions related to ND.
3) CMS! - I'm looking into drupal, where I could have users create articles ("stories"), comment, blog, read news feeds, and discuss on an underdeveloped forum (as you can't even integrate drupal and phpbb without getting dirty).

I've already set up #3 with a green-version layout, but to be honest I'm quite disappointed with the CMS and how it will work with my site. Perhaps another CMS someone could suggest?

I'm also thinking about creating classifieds which could probably accompany #2 and #3 quite well.

In any case, if anyone has any suggestions on what I could do to expand content or anything to add on my solution list, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[cascadingstylez]

Personally:

A forum, i wouldn't bother with until you gain alot of traffic, otherwise it will end up being constantly empty and even as traffic builds up theres no guarantee people will use it. I've learn't this in the past, forums are a bit outdated now, unless obviously you have a thriving community in the first place, like NP and SP.

As for CMS systems, you could use a free one, or you could create your own and get it to do exactly what you want.

Its difficult, i dont know your budget or time scale. Again this only personal, i think you should first create an informative site about the local state/area, if you can see steady traffic, you know its useful and you can then site down and think about how to better what you already have.

To many people think big, and the outcome is small, and usually never works, think big, but don't jump in head first, id start small and build it up. Id hate to waste months of hard work for it to fail.

 

[amarventris]

Look into the webnuke family. PHP nuke admin behind a locked folder means customization without hacking headaches. You get a LOT of attractions for one low price, and the google engine customization is a menu interface inside each page in the admin menu. Easy peasy.

Godaddy hosts a cheep cheep one with byooootiful intact operation. You will stop being able to type before it stops performing. I did one for a tv show then they decided to take 7 months off.