I am looking for someone to help develop, build, and launch a forum website with me.
I have done (limited) research and I don't think a standard WordPress website with various plugins is suitable for this. I am leaning towards Rails (Ruby) and Laravel (PHP) based frameworks. I will like to hear from you, the programmers/web designers for which would be more suitable? and why?
An overview of the project:
Design and functionality inspiration, think: Hotukdeals, Reddit, and Facebook (simple, easy on the eyes, not cluttered.)
[REGISTRATION PAGE] - (Pops up over Newsfeed) Full Name, Nickname, E-mail. Newsletter signup checkbox. Use of social media to Register/Login (FB, Gmail, etc.)
[HOMEPAGE / NEWS FEED] This is the default landing page for members and non-members alike. This is populated by previously approved admin/moderator posts. Under each post is a comments section.
News Feed Posts may be sorted by selecting either “Votes” or by “Most Recent”. Members may comment with (text, gifs, links, and images) on other user's posts Members may add 1 vote per comment. Members may sort the comments by “votes”, or “most recent” as in the newsfeed. Members may click on the posting members' nickname to go to their profile page. Members may also flag/report comments that are abusive or spam. (Flag icon or emoji button)
Admin/ Moderators to be able to remove, and/or block posts, comments, and members Auto offensive word blocking on comments.
[NEW POST] - (Pops up over Newsfeed) Members may submit posts (for approval by admin/moderators) to the newsfeed which will include a Title, Text, Images, Location. Keywords/Tags may also be submitted.
Once approved and on the newsfeed, these posts can be voted up or down by other registered members in the community. Only 1 vote per member is allowed on each post.
[NEW DISCUSSION] (Pops up over Newsfeed) Members may submit posts for discussion.
[SEARCH] (Bubble always in the top Navigation Bar with magnifying glass icon) Ability to search for posts and members and posts in a certain location or radius from a location. tags/keywords are also searchable
[MESSAGING] (Icon always in the top Navigation bar with envelope icon) Members can make and view direct messages with other members here. Members can Flag/Report messages to admin/moderators as inappropriate.
[MEMBERS PROFILE] Members' info will be displayed here along with a profile pic. User Points displayed under profile pic. Members are assigned a score ranked by user engagement. We will display these stats here, assigning a total points count to the user for these along with a short explanation on how the points system works. A message icon will be displayed here for easy messaging between users. Flag/report Icon will be under profile pic. Members' activity will be listed here. (Posts, Comments, Votes) These will be hyperlinked back to the original posts. Members previously posted posts. Members drafts* (*only viewable my member)
[ALERTS / NOTIFICATIONS] (Always displayed in the top Navigation Bar with bell icon) Users may set up alerts/notifications for keywords/tags. Users may set alerts for new posts, or posts by members they are following.
[ABOUT US] This page will be a brief blurb on why we were founded and what we aim to achieve.
[CONTACT US] Basic contact details
[HELP] This will be a standard help page explaining each button, pages, etc, and their functions.
[REGISTRATION]: (Create members profile) Full Name, Nickname, E-mail. Newsletter signup checkbox. Use of social media to Register/Login (FB, Gmail, etc)
[LOGIN PAGE / LOGGED OUT] (Pops up over newsfeed)
[HOW IT WORKS]
[ABOUT US]
[TERMS OF USE]
[COOKIES POLICY]
[PRIVACY POLICY]
*PLEASE NOTE*
There are some other functionalities that I have purposely left out.
To protect the business model during development, I will divulge these details upon a signed NDA.
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
