Development HELP please!!!?

[toyotamr2s]

I recently acquired votingprecinct.com and was wanting to make it a site where a person could type in their address and they would then see where their precinct was and also maybe a sample ballot of the choices they will be seeing at the polls. I also think it would be really neat to have a comparison of the prospective politicians and how they stand on certain issues and maybe a link to mapquest showing the route and the approx. time to arrival, etc. I have never developed a site , only purchased domain names, but I personally would love a site like this so people won't get stuck on hold whenever they contacat their local board of elections. I would greatly appreciate ANY advice that you pro's can offer such as software needed and approx. price, time, to do this. I know squat about development so if you have something to say but you think it's a given, please DO NOT HOLD BACK! Thanks in advance, toyotamr2s

[draggar]

THis is going to be one big project for you especially if you've never developed before.

My suggestion would be:

Wordpress (free) with a good template (cost - not sure how much) for the news and views (remember to remain impartial and stick to the facts, have news about all sides so you do not seem prejudice or partial to one candidate).

For the polling station - you might want to get a directory software, eSyndiCat for example with another template.

Make sure your hosting company offers you a database (MySQL) but you can use the same DB for both projects (just pay attention to size limits).

Hopefully you have some cash on hand, I'm thinking this project could run you a minimum $250 to $1500 not including any hosting.

Also, with hosting, pay attention to traffic and traffic limits. You should be able to start off small but every few months pay attention to traffic, if it is getting close to your limit you might want to take a step to the next hosting level.

[toyotamr2s]

Thanks for the info. draggar... seems like a lot of work but I think it will pay off(fingers crossed)... any suggestions on a good hosting company? And what is a ballpark range for what one would pay for the hosting services? monthly/annually? Also you mentioned paying attention to the size limits... what happens if you exceed the limits? Do you just move to a bigger/pricier hosting company? Thanks again

[draggar]

Right now I'm paying $5 a month for hosting for one of the lowest plans that my hosting company (1&1) provides but I wouldn't recommend them (I've learned that there are better options out there is just that I have so many databases with them, no issue with downtime or security just a UI preference). Most start around $5-$10 a month for basic shared hosting and can go as much as you want to spend (you get what you pay for). I'd recommend doing some research and start out with a low end package since traffic won't be an issue right off the bat and space won't be an issue either. My main concern would be their database size. 100MB should be good to get you started and going for a little while. I would be wary if it was less than 50MB.

Don't ask me who to go with since I've only had experience with 1&1 (a lot of people also recommend having your registrar seperate from your hosting company).

[toyotamr2s]

Awesome. Thanks for the replies. Some valuable info......