Newbie needs tips/hints

[Go Fast, Turn Left]

I am in the midst of creating my second site. Here is my overall plan:

My local (county wide) newspaper basically sucks, doesn't carry much, and is always slanted in its views. I would like to open a bulletin board (maybe phpBB2) for local discussions and debates, a way to post classifieds, and maybe a way to post local pic's. If this grows well enough I would like to be able to charge for the classifieds to cover cost for the site, maintenance, etc.

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to accomplish. I understand the BB, but am lost on the classifieds. I d'loaded the Fantistico one, but it didnt look so hot in my opinion. Can I post ads on something like Zen Cart? I have read a few posts with people speaking highly of it...

Another thought was maybe trying to set up an account (maybe PayPal??) and just ahve people pay to use the BB and post whatever they want ad wise.

Any one have any ideas to share? I would appreciate any guidance as I am pretty much a total noob! :o

[Dustin]

Seems like you might be interested in something more of a social software rather than bulletin boards. You may be interested in phpFox

http://www.phpfox.com/

[Dustin]

Oh yeah, heres the demo site:

http://www.phpfoxdemo.com/

It contains the ability to have cycled ad's that show based on payment, as well as blogs and boards. But note, if it starts getting big in your area, you may want to consider a dedicated host (over 1,000 active members).

[Go Fast, Turn Left]

So, would I have to put it on my pc, then ftp it over to bluehost? I am assuming I can make it what I need, but I am thinking I would like to keep it pretty professional. The demo looked kinda :eek: if you know what I mean...

Thanks for the advice!

[Dustin]

The default theme does look rather... lacking. But, you could apply you own templates to it.