Website needed - how much can I do myself?

[tomtom99]

Hi guys!
My first post here of many here so go easy one me :)

Skip this paragraph for my question but just to give you some background info as to enlighten you in my situation I'm 19 years old and currently attending university. I'm looking at setting up my own business and as I'm not from a wealthy family and the fact I am a student, I need to gauge an idea of capital cost before I set out to make sure I can achieve what I want and seek financial help where possible.

I need a website built but I need to have a rough idea how much this will cost and how much - if any - I can do myself. I would say I have a general idea of coding (in that I could edit coding to suit my needs) but not write it all. Here's the process and what I need...


Process:

1) User registers on website, creates profile containing info.
2) A shop is available where by the user selects the amount of allowances they wish to have. Payment is made to a nochex merchant account.
3) As an one allowance is purchased, the user's account is accredted with one allowance.
4) The user can then upload one file (with a file limit), together with fields containing info on the file. The file name is changed to a randomised name upon reaching the server.
5) The user then selects contacts that are stored on a database and sends the file.
6) An automatic email is generated and sent to all contacts selected, the email contains the file link and information entered. The subject line contains the randomised file name as to identify the file.
7) Recipent replies to server email, individual files identified by the randomised file name in subject line.
8) Reply in email automatically copied from email to the relevant users user area (randomised file name linked to user).

Other:

- I need to be able to add/edit/delete services and prices in the shop aswell as adding promo discounts.
- User account must show previous uploaded files and their replies to each upload.
- Need to be able to add/edit/delete contacts easily.
- Need to be able to view the number of files sent to each contact receives on a monthly basis.
- If a contact does not reply a notice is sent to myself.
- Contacts have 7 days to reply - if they do not reply a generic reply is posted to the user's area and an email is sent to myself specifying the contact who didn't reply to which email.



How much can I do using generic scripts on the web?

Where's the best place for getting a quote for someone to do it all?

How much do you think it will cost?



Thanks very much for your time!!
Any help is appreciated :)
Tom Birch

[pbmods]

Heya, Tom. Welcome to TSDN!

If you were to work on that full-time, starting with basic HTML proficiency, but limited PHP/MySQL knowledge, I'd estimate that it would take you about 3 weeks to get a working prototype up and running.

Large (read: ambitious!) projects such as the one you are describing aren't too bad as long as you can cut it up in to manageable chunks. The way I got started was by reading The MySQL Manual and consulting The PHP Manual whenever I got stuck.

And of course, you can post your questions on TSDN anytime :)

In terms of getting a contract quote, allow me to recommend my employer.

[DeMan]

Quite a lot....assuming you understand basic web technologies.

Building the actual program is reasonably simple using a web design package (I'm not aware of any free ones - I have looked for them myself in the past), or you could code by hand - generally more powerful because you can make the page do exactly what you want, but usually more tedious.

Have a look around for a company to host your site. Often these companies provide packages with options to simplify tasks including: registration, webmail, forum, shopping as well as a range of different scripts that may come in handy to do various things.

Quite a bit of work is involved, and even though a lot of resource can be provided, you really need to have a reasonable understanding of how the different technologies fit together. If you are uncomfortable with any of it, you could get a professional to do it, but you probably want more than just setup, so it could become an ongoing cost (for maintenance, etc).