Here's my advice for people getting into the world of websites.
Here are a bunch of scripts I would recommend for whatever type of site you plan to have
Company / Community Site
If you're just creating a company profile website I would recommend using a content management system (CMS)
1. Mambo - One of the best CMS out there and it's Free
2. Xoops - A personal favorite of mine, easier to use than Mambo with a ton of free modules to download. Again it's free
3. Drupal - A nice CMS, very easy to use. free
A good site for choosing a CMS: CMS Matrixl
E-Commerce
If you plan on setting up an online shop here are a few scripts available:
1. X-Cart - Best ecommerce system for it's price - $185 USD
2. LiteCommerce - By the same creators of X-cart, a better programmed cart, imo, but as the name suggests, lighter on the features. I suspect it to grow fast though - $95 USD
3. osCommerce - A free ecommerce system. I am not too fond on this system, the programming is very messy and you'll probably end up spending a lot on maintenance and fixes. Also the design code is mixed in with the program logic so changing the design is not an easy task. Overall may end up paying more using this system than the others
There are a few other free ecommerce systems and variations of oscommerce (still consist of bad code), but those 3 i've mentioned are best to start with.
Forums
There are a few big forum systems out there (if you get a CMS most come with a forum system already)
All 3 systems below are really good forum systems
1. SMF - Simple Machines Forum (free)
2. phpBB - Free
3. Invision Power Board - $69.95 / year
4. vBulletin - 160 (free for non-commercial use)
Blogging
If you want to have a blog site, there are a few popular blogging scripts out there:
1. MoveableType - A fully featured blogging system - $69.95 and up
2. Wordpress - A great system as well, not as fully featured as moveable type but a good start - Free
I haven't tried many other blogging scripts, but these two are the most i've worked with
You can try demos for most of the scripts I've mentioned here:
http://www.opensourcecms.com/You can try x-cart demo here:
http://x-cart.com/shopping_cart_demo.htmlLitecommerce demo here:
http://litecommerce.com/ecommerce_software_demo.htmlHope this helps, starting up a website isn't as scary as it looks, with a bit of guidance and the right tools it'll be easy to run the site you've always wanted.
