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Need help on finding software for a review site

by kurtistb
5 replies
For a while now I have had an idea in my head about a niche review site. This would be an information site where the content was user driven. I need to allow registered users to write detailed reviews. I almost want to be like yelp but with more detailed reviews.


I'm not 100% set on a language but I am leaning towards PHP. Would obviously love something that works relatively well out of the box but I know that may be a pipe dream. Does anyone know of a review engine what would allow for me to at least have the framework for my site?
#finding #review #site #software
  • Profile picture of the author jminkler
    Originally Posted by kurtistb View Post

    For a while now I have had an idea in my head about a niche review site. This would be an information site where the content was user driven. I need to allow registered users to write detailed reviews. I almost want to be like yelp but with more detailed reviews.


    I'm not 100% set on a language but I am leaning towards PHP. Would obviously love something that works relatively well out of the box but I know that may be a pipe dream. Does anyone know of a review engine what would allow for me to at least have the framework for my site?
    Pick any CMS or blogging software .. joomla, drupal, or wordpress
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    • Profile picture of the author Tim Brownlaw
      Hi Kurtisb

      It's a topic I've been wanting to look into myself so I had a poke around wobbly wobbly wobbly land and came up with this...

      freereviewscript.com

      It's free and it's written in the cakephp framework of all things.
      That'd be something to get your teeth into.
      Not something I've played with until now.

      It lets you create reviews and allows user comments and ratings.

      It's the full catastrophe with Page Editor, Categories, Reviews, members etc all created in the admin section. So it's like a cut down, purpose built Wordpress kind of thing.

      Templating is still an unknown issue at this time, only having just installed it on my local host, the default isn't too bad and you can change the images on the page in the Admin.

      Installation is pretty simple...

      There is "forum support" but while there are a few recent posts from users, it appears the authors have been lost in action for a lil while. So I'm not sure how that bodes, But it appears that most users are happy with it.

      There is a demo site at Demo - FreeReviewScript.com - Home which basically is how it comes out of the box minus the header graphics and the color scheme has been changed.

      It's not too bad, once you get a few pages setup...

      So I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but it'd get you up and running while you look at other options.

      And if you do want to delve into PHP, getting your feet wet with an MVC Framework is not a bad way to go. Be prepared to do some reading and messing around though!

      Gee this has nearly turned into a review...

      You can always go down the path as suggested by Jarret and get the appropriate plugins etc..

      Anyone else come across any other review based scripts,plugins etc?

      So this has only given you more options to choose from.

      I might try tossing it up on one of my poor neglected review sites and see how it flies. But that won't be anytime soon.

      Cheers
      Tim
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      Great Success is built from many little successes!

      http://www.timbrownlaw.com - My Wee Part of the World.

      http://www.LookingOverMyShoulder.com

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  • Profile picture of the author Peter01
    If I were you I'd do Wordpress with a really slick WooThemes wordpress theme.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author andreasnrb
    Yep go with WordPress and check out WordPress Plugin: User Submitted Posts | Perishable Press
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  • Profile picture of the author GotLiveChat
    Originally Posted by kurtistb View Post

    For a while now I have had an idea in my head about a niche review site. This would be an information site where the content was user driven. I need to allow registered users to write detailed reviews. I almost want to be like yelp but with more detailed reviews.


    I'm not 100% set on a language but I am leaning towards PHP. Would obviously love something that works relatively well out of the box but I know that may be a pipe dream. Does anyone know of a review engine what would allow for me to at least have the framework for my site?
    PHP with MySQL back-end should handle it. A table for registered users, another for reviews.
    If you don't have the skills to build them together, put it out to bid on Guru or Freelancer; I can't imagine it would cost more than couple hundred $$.
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