php developers help me.....?

[Umang]

recently i have learned HTML,CSS and now planning to learn php.
my dream is to develop a social networking website.
and i will code it according to my needs, all alone only by myself.
here is my questions--
1. how much time it will take to complete a social networking site like FACEBOOK.??(only by me)
2.after launching the site,will it require some helpers to manage it???????(reason plz.)
please guide me in a right direction....thanks :-)

[Simpy]

45 days..

[Tdz]

1. It depends, a twitter style site could be up in weeks if you know what you are doing, but the Facebook model is a little more complicated now...it wasn't at first, but it evolved..There are many thousand hours in there...from different people of course.

2.Helpers? It depends on your model. If you need admins and moderators, you'll need help. If you don't mind doing everything yourself and don't believe it will be a problem, do it yourself! I think the most help you'll need is from participants to gain popularity since all developers know that social networks sites are simple...and would not be anything without the people that maintains it! But you will need the help of a lawyer since you can't create a site like that without some ethical backing. Before putting anything online, contact a firm which specializes in social networks and shopping websites. They will charge you a couple thousand bucks to write you a disclaimer to make sure you can't be sued if kids show their privates on your site. Be aware that this is of the utmost importance if you live in a developed country.

If you want a success, I strongly suggest you ignore the standards and do something different, simply making a Facebook clone will not get you anywhere. You need originality, simplicity and a reason for user to make the first step and sign up!

Good luck!

[z-Steve]

Your answers will depend mostly on if you have any programming experience within another language. It will also depend upon if you are going to package it for Smartphone and tablet applications or just for webpages. Another thing to realize is that HTML and CSS are not programming so learning the programming will take a lot of time.

I also would recommend trying Python instead of PHP it is a lot easier to learn and you can do just about anything with it. see http://www.python.org You can also write and run some Python from
http://www.skulpt.org, but I'm not sure how far that editor will take you as it seems to be still being developed.

Javascript would also be a good choice to use and can be written in any of the editors you have used for HTML and CSS. You can also find a lot of tutorials and books online for Javascript. Furthermore Javascript is part of AJAX which is behind a lot of cool new website stuff such as Google maps. If you learn Javascript you can just have someone write some server side code for sign ups and sign ins, etc. see http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

If you are 100% set on PHP W3 Schools does have some tutorials on it as well. But you'll need to have a web server to start even a "Hello World" program and the server must have PHP on it.
Javascript is ran from all the big browsers of 2011.

TIME: Absolute beginner programmer maybe 2 years to have a big flawless website if you choose Python. Maybe 2 /12 Javascript and 3 PHP. But some could probably do it in 2-3 months.
Once you have a site with big traffic and making money you will need to at least get some help from a temp agency.

[just "JR"]

1. Facebook is not a very complicated site, as such. Its complexity resides in its success, requiring multiple server (server-farms) and full-time coders to maintain it...
A simple (initial) social network can be developed in a few weeks, providing you know what you are doing - and coding)
2. "After launch" means success or failure!
Launching a site is easy: you just post it.
Getting success is another matter: it requires SERIOUS MARKETING and, consequently, serious budget. You nay have a fantastic Facebook, but it will still not work is you do not invest in advertising.
Facebook started as a "Single campus network": it was done by one man.
To become successful, the developer (keep forgetting his name) needed some financial support to collect... 35.4 MILLIONS us$ to "launch it".
Soon after, and as it took off, he needed a whole team of coders to "fill the gaps".
He now uses a large team of full time coders, several server-farms, and is worth about 4 BILLIONS us$.

You can manage a "good site" with a few 1000's visitors a day, alone.
Above, you are in trouble: it becomes a full time business: employees, infrastruture and so-on.

Nevertheless, a warning: don't worry about your site before you get 1000 visitors a day! Whatever your efforts, you will be lucky if you get 100 visitors a day...
Make sure you install statcounter.com on your site, and watch what's gong on.
However good your site is, you are in for disappointment...
Unless you have a financial backup of a few 100,000's for advertising, you will be going nowhere.
That's the REAL way it is...
Sorry for the cold shower...