I have a good idea but don't know where to start

I've had an idea for a website and for the first time I think its actually a good enough idea to do. The only problem is that I only know how to set up a very basic website, my idea would involve alot of databasing and networking between people.

The best way I can explain how my website would work without telling you what it is, is to say that it would run in a similar way to a dating website. The members would have a profile with certain details and would also have to give a criteria. From that criteria, members would be given a list of people which match it, and from that list they try to contact the person/people that they want to contact.

Are there any off the shelf packages which would be used to database all of the peoples details and match the details to peoples criteria, or would I have to get somebody to create the website properly? Also how much would this cost in the UK?

(I don't know if much of what I wrote actually make sense :P)


Thanks

I've worked with a start up in Cali that did similar stuff (not dating), they hired a team of developers from Pakistan to code the site from scratch to meet their specification.

A complete database site like that is in the range of $20,000 USD

there are a few dating social network OS platforms out there, why not search them out, instll them and get bids for customizing them to your needs?

What you describe doesn't sound complicated ... I know it can be done on Drupal which is free ... problem is, Drupal (Drupal.org) isn't very easy to learn. The way I see it, you have 4 options:

1) Learn yourself and code the app yourself
2) Hire someone else via Elance, Guru, etc.
3) Buy/download/install a Content Management System and learn.
4) Get a partner who knows how.

The cheapest/easiest would be #3 and your learning curve would be admin/implementation of the CMS.

I am using an open source CMS, but the only terms + conditions that I don't like seeing or leaving but have no choice is their 'signature'.

Is it easy to build your own CMS? I have skils in HTML + CSS, and bit of PHP to create a simple dynamic web page. Do you have to study to learn this? I searched online, but only found articles on CMS, but none yet on 'how to build an CMS'

Thanks in advance
CHEERS

Thanks for the advice people, I think that drupal is going to be too hard for me so what content management system would you recommend?

It is not about someone recommending you something, it's about you knowing what you need and finding what works best and modifying it.

Lets put it this way ...

Wherever you need to go, or want to go, you have to make an admission. And that admission? Understand that the skills, strategies, and techniques you need to know are fully learnable and that what you know NOW is insufficient. If you try to make this journey by leveraging what you already know, you aren't likely to succeed ... you are going to need to leverage NEW SKILLS and grow in the process to make advancement. The great news is that all of this information is out there ready to be consumed by you, and yes, most of it is FREE.

Had I tried to advance my journey by using only what I knew, I'd still be getting up at 6am and fighting traffic in some job. It was only after I sought "how to" when I started to make progress. Education never ends.