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SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#21

Post by danieleli »

No brainer. Open source CMS. They are extensible and rich plugin markets. Current leaders are wordpress, joomla, Dotnet nuke, Umbraco and drupal, but there are many others. Word press has around 13,000 plugins for everything from ecommerce to social networks but all most all them have that.

One consideration is that dotnetnuke and umbraco target the enterprise so can be somewhat heavy weight. More modern CMSs are lighter weight. Orchard.net, for example is a .net mvc3 application whose core is very small and even the basic features are design as external modules.

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#22

Post by vesp »

Cmccann7 wrote: post #6
graceyang wrote: post #2

I really think we should build the community first using one of the many tools out there before we start investing time into building something custom. Perhaps we can even use something like basecamp/campfire or talkerapp (I'm willing to pay for the initial costs personally). The community is the important part but I think something as simple as a Google Group would be enough to prove that it's a community that will…

Agree with grace 100%. Also signing NDAs might turn people away. I would try to be as casual and organic with this as possible to start with.

Also agree with grace. A simpler way to create and engage community (Google Groups, Posterous Groups, ...) may be enough for the early alpha stage.

About the software, I'd usually go with the "use existing software" approach. However, with the specs outlined (game mechanics and so on) there's also a big risk on ending creating a big patch "hacking" the existing software.

A third option in between would be to use some kind of framework as Django (or Ruby) with as much already done apps for the functionality as possible. For example, a comparison page for forum appz solutions on Django: http://djangopackages.com/grids/g/forums/

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#24

Post by aaronmoodie »

At this point, I'd agree with the 'off the shelf' solution that most are supporting here. Either starting with something like Reddit's code base, as suggested, or even the Google groups option could be a good start initially.

If the need/desire to roll your own becomes an issue, Kickstarter could be a good way to look at funding this, seeing as there are already 400+ people wanting to see this happen, who I'm sure would all happily pitch in.

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#25

Post by aaronmoodie »

vesp wrote: post #22
Cmccann7 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree with grace 100%. Also signing NDAs might turn people away. I would try to be as casual and organic with this as possible to start with.

Also agree with grace. A simpler way to create and engage community (Google Groups, Posterous Groups, ...) may be enough for the early alpha stage. About the software, I'd usually go with the "use existing software" approach. However, with the specs outlined (game mechanics and so on) there's also a big risk on ending creating a big patch "hacking" the existing software. A third option in between would be to use some…

I think the alpha stage option is a good point. Get things moving asap with Google/Posterous Groups, and then turn some attention to a custom site including the desired features.

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#27

Post by cabinguy »

I agree with the current majority. Use off the shelf software to get started.

My company uses an install of Wordpress with the GTD theme (P2 Theme is also an option) for communication - it is basically a twitter/yammer clone. We have 20 people and it has been an awesome tool. Of course you can easily add forums (bbpress) and a ton of other functionality with 10k+ plugins available.

This could be built/ready in 1-2 days.

http://p2theme.com/

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#28

Post by jayhawg »

This is great Justin, thanks for getting it together.

I vote for Open Source. I think everyone is champing at the bit to join and share with each other, so getting it off the ground fast is best.

Also, as others have already said, this seems to be a predominantly altruistic group, so funding a better solution later won't be an issue.

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#29

Post by pchristensen »

I would recommend Wordpress/Buddypress to start. It's simple to setup, has a ton of plugins, and isn't hard to extend. If not BuddyPress, use something else existing. Building your own software from scratch would be a terrible use of your time given the goals you have for the Startup Guild.

Re: SG Mastermind 1: Build from scratch or use existing software?

#30

Post by mattcheney »

astrofinch wrote: post #14

Convore?

Convore may be the best solution for right now...it's super easy to organize a public/private group of people, and the daily email digests are perfect.

When There's a clearer idea of the form the SG is going to take, BuddyPress is probably the best off the shelf solution since it's open source (free & constantly being improved) easy to set up (under 15 minutes now that it's a plugin) and easily customized with themes and plugins.

I've been using it for the past few months on client projects and it's been really awesome to work with, as well as easy to use for admins and users.

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