What to use for a new site (basic CMS, forums but scalable to e-commerce).

RimBlock

RimBlock

RimBlock

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Expat in Singapore
Hi,

Please note this is in Asia and is not a competitor to OCUK.

I was using a tech website as my business store front (paid for the privilege) but due to pressure from competitors the website in question has suspended all its business seller accounts (not just mine). Due to this I now need to get a new shop front up and running quickly.

I am running a pc parts and server builds on-line business like OCUK but also have a hardware exchange program (old parts for credit on a new order) with an old part sale area as well. All this was run on a set of forums with the owners permission until today (much to my surprise).

I am looking to put a site together starting with a very basic need for a front page and a set of forums.

From this later I would like to change the front page to a basic CMS front page/area so I can easily add updates, special offers/notices.

From that later I would like to add an e-commerce shop front.

The shop is too big for me to put together quickly enough but I believe there should be fairly easy systems for a front page and a decent forum (with anti bot protection) that I can get up and running in a couple of days.

This will all be hosted with TSO host (not willing to rely on local hosting due to price and pressure they may come under by competitors trying to shut me down again).

Which is the best way to go.

RB
 
Given that you need it up and running quickly I would say install Wordpress for the front end as it can be up and running within a few hours and then purchase a theme for a few $'s and you are good to go.

There is even a self installer with tsohost so should be even quicker. There are plenty Wordpress addons too for ecommerce and forums but it depends on the size your site will end up at.
 
Wordpress can cover everything you want. But having a completely integrated system would be interesting.

For example, WP can handle the CMS aspect out of the box. Then using a plugin like bbpress or simplepress you can get your forums going. I've not used any WP ecommerce plugins but add one of those in to the mix. Now, if you use bbpress it uses the wp tables for user admin so it's a single login, and if you can get an ecommerce plugin which does the same you could end up with a nicely integrated site.
 
Thanks all,

This little business has only been running a couple of months so as I am sure you can imagine it is a bit of a blow.

I have put Wordpress on the TSOhost site and have selected a simple looking theme (planing on basic, clean, maybe some comic strip type 'how does it work' pictures if I can find someone to knock them up, nice logo).

I have also put in bbPress.

Is there a good 'first steps' guide around for both Wordpress and bbPress. I can work through the walkthroughs and thanks for the kind offer spenncerr, I may well take you up on that, although probably not tonight (8 hour time difference from most of you guys).

Thanks
RB
 
I don't see the point in using wordpress for the front end. Everything you need to do can be done with vBulletin, and you wouldn't have to worry about potential future issues you may face with WP-Forum bridge compatibility.
 
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Van Hellseek said:
I don't see the point in using wordpress for the front end. Everything you need to do can be done with vBulletin, and you wouldn't have to worry about potential issues you may face with bridge compatibility.
Click to expand...

I still don't like wordpress :(. Have been trying it for a few days but it really is not giving me what I was looking for. I am sure someone could do wonders with it but not me in the time I have.

vBulletin is a nice all in one package but it looks more or less the same everywhere (I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this). The site that stopped the business accounts also uses it and I would like to distance myself from that look & feel.

The site is for retail PC parts, full builds, servers etc for the local market (again based in Singapore so not going to be competing with OCUK). I am also offering a trade-in discount, after testing, for old computer parts and then making those parts available to the second hand market after cleaning and testing. I also have the buy-in from one distributor to be listed on their site as an authorised reseller and to get lists of their refurbished stock for the second hand market. I will be trying to get other distributors on-board as well but need to get the site up first.

The trade-in for credit is a very new concept over here for IT parts although there is a couple of Cash Converters shops. The trial I ran on the other forums before the business accounts were suspended just started picking up especially as I started offering the "bid or buy" option for the second hand items.

I am leaning towards using;

  • Unknown very basic CMS for just a front page.
Branding, Brief description of how the trade-in works, Comic strip example of the process, Any notable special offers. One page will probably do but need to be able to edit easily. Links to the two other parts.
​
  • Opencart for a shop front.
I like some of the themes available and it seems pretty simple to get to grips with. Need to check on coupons but hope I can issue them for hardware that had been traded in.
​
  • PHPBB for a set of forums.
Pretty customizable and like some of the templates available. Looks pretty different to vBulletin and I used to use this as a forum for a site I had many years ago. I would like to make sure it can be used with the 'ask a question' anti spam signup protection though.
​
Forums accounts and Shop accounts need not be the same although it would be nice if they were.

A client I am building a couple of servers for will be helping to create custom graphics / logos / unified look & feel as I will be configuring their software as part of a 'skills exchange' but the website software has not been finalised yet so opinions from people here would be great.

RB
 
Unknown very basic CMS for just a front page.

Branding, Brief description of how the trade-in works, Comic strip example of the process, Any notable special offers. One page will probably do but need to be able to edit easily. Links to the two other parts.
Click to expand...
I've never used e-commerce software myself, but surely you would be able to achieve this by using the shop software as the front page and customising it as required?

Edit: Just had a quick look at the opencart homepage and it certainly looks like this is the case. A separate CMS just for a front page sounds like it would be overkill for your needs.
 
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Most cms systems will do pretty much what you need. Take a look at impress cms, modxcms, xoops to name a few. I have used modx on a few sites for people lately and it has been well received.

When choosing something for your site take a time to search out what seems the right system for you, that will do the job/task that you need to accomplish. The beauty of the web in some ways is that there is not only one way of doing something and even though people seem to think there is. There is not one piece of software which is the best fit for every task or person.
 
Thanks all.

I have just put up Zimplit (CMS), OpenCart and PHPBB on the servers and am working at the configuration now.

Zimplit seems pretty simple and I can easily link to the shop and forums subdomains.

Open cart looks quite powerful and seems fairly easy to setup although it has got me asking a number of business related questions to myself of how to handle various situations, which is good IMO. I like the shop to be the shop as, whilst it has the second hand items for sale there, it can be bookmarked to directly as just an online shop without the need to go through the CMS and see all the 'What we are about' explanations. The same goes for the forums.

I prefer not to have the forums in the CMS as I like a bit more room across the page for the forum text.

RB
 
Joomla is overcomplicated and convoluted compared to it's competition. Magento is good, but as you've experienced suitably complex for what is a very comprehensive ecommerce platform.
 
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