User Generated Websites

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Hi :)

I am quite useless when it comes to websites, however I am wanting to build a very, very basic site. As I say, I am useless, so a point in the right direction would be more than appreciated, rather than any complex HTML or programming language :O:

How would you create a website where-by users make an online payment for (something), and that (something) is sold to them automatically. Take for example the 'Million Dollar Homepage', the guy clearly had a million squares, and I don't imagine he would have sat there waiting for x thousand e-mails with logos and put them on there manually - is there some kind of special programme, or software, or online database that can be used, or is it as simple as linking some sort of Excel spreadsheet with online stuff?

Sorry, I know this sounds stupidly basic, but it's just something I'm interested in knowing more about :)

Thanks in advance,

AF :)

[mixture]

I am wanting to build a very, very basic site

and

users make an online payment for (something), and that (something) is sold to them automatically


This is not basic. Basic is a static website, such as a "brochure website", where content changes only when you manually change it.

Introducing a dynamic element introduces complexity, because unless you're running an e-commerce website (where many off-the-shelf platforms exist for you to choose from), you're going to need an element of coding in PHP, J2EE or other tool of your choice.

For example, take "payment for (something)" .... you've admitted yourself that you don't have many technical skills. So storing and processing credit card details yourself is a non-starter. This means you will have to integrate with the Developer APIs of a PCI DSS accredited payment platform (such as Worldpay, Paypal etc. etc.) who will process and securely store credit card details on your behalf.

that (something) is sold to them automatically

If that "something" is fairly standard .... for example, selling a PDF eBook, then there will be plenty of ready made off-the-shelf solutions out there.

However, something more niche and unique like the 'Million Dollar Homepage' you refer to was almost certainly not an off-the-shelf endeavour.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm all for encouraging new internet endeavours. But your time may be better spent looking for a developer to work with, even if that means paying them some money..... after all, if you can't forecast a way to break-even after paying someone to work on your website, is your business endeavour viable ? Or were you after something more modest than making a million dollars out of it ?

If you do go down the developer route, make sure you do your homework carefully. There are a lot of cowboys out there who simply work off templates and standardised solutions, they tend to get a bit flustered when you ask them to do something they can't recycle some pre-existing solution for. Take a good look at their portfolio, if all you see is template based standardised tosh, walk away.

[jxc]

Have a look at Free Website Builder - Moonfruit - Total website design control (http://www.moonfruit.com) very easy setup and now have shop and you can integrate PayPal and google checkout as well

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Hi Mixture and Jxc :),

Thanks very much for your input, I really do appreciate it.

Mixture - I apologise for my (something)'s, and I did think that the solution was much more technical than I made out. The software I use does integrate a PayPal widget, where it is a totally separate element to any website I am able to create, which obviously takes away the onus on myself for the secure web hosting and confidentiality of customer information etc, so that's not my concern.

All I was hoping to achieve was something where-by the PayPal knew what I wanted to sell (linked from my site), and say for example what I wanted to sell owned the code "7314", the user could choose "7314" from the "online stock list" (a little bit like choosing a barcoded item from Amazon), and the site would automatically register their information with whatever "7314" corresponded to on the website, so that when they hovered or clicked "7314" it would do what they wanted.

The whole reason I posted here is because A) I love to learn. I'd love to think I could get myself into this sort of thing (I am only 20, maybe I should know this, but I study Marketing, not computing, and now I want to integrate the two), and B) I wanted to learn myself before involving others, because as you say - there are an awful lot of people out there who will take a development idea home with them, and implement it before mine - purely because there's no legislation or copyright laws online against an idea.

I always seem to start out with a basic idea that would really work if I had the technical knowledge, and then I come to develop it and the technical side pulls me further and further away from completion! Nevermind, onwards and upwards! :).

Jxc - Many thanks for your link, I will take a look at that now - I also really appreciate your time in replying to my thread, thank you :)

Many thanks again, very much appreciated,

AF :)

[txdmy1]

AF
check out these guys, they will also host it for you
x2cms Website Builder - the quickest and easiest way to a great website (http://www.x2cms.com/)

[BigEndBob]

Try wix.com Build yourself a free web site to experiment. They have a paypal button feature.