Thread

I like what I’m seeing here but have a few questions related to the needs of our site.

I’m working on developing an online resource magazine, which will offer both free and members only services. In addition, the site will basically be a community from which we will invite article submissions. These will, in turn, be reviewed, and possibly edited and then posted to the site. We need to host several features including a blog, an interactive Q&A;function, weekly polls, etc. Our vision for the site is large and robust, so we’re looking for just the right solution and think EE might be it.

Our development priorities include:

  * member/subscription management
  * article management
  * modular capability
  * quality design
  * search engine optimization

We are most interested in hiring a developer/designer to produce the site but would like to see something like EE on the back end if we can find what suits our needs. So, I’d appreciate knowing how EE can address each of these priorities and incorporate the funcationality we need. Thanks for the help. Karen

Good morning, Karen! Welcome to the forums. =)

  * member/subscription management

Member management is built into ExpressionEngine, however, while you can use Simple Commerce to purchase an initial subscription and have that change their group, renewals and tracking thereof are not included out of the box.  We’ve had many customers that use aMember to help with this area.  A search for aMember here, and on the wiki, can help a great deal.

  * article management

No problem, including status workflow for moderation and approval of posts before they go live.

  * modular capability

Modules in ExpressionEngine have a fairly specific meaning, so before I answer this - may I ask you to clarify on what you mean by modular capability? =)

  * quality design

ExpressionEngine manages the content and data, you use ExpressionEngine templates to output the design, and place data where you want, when you want.  So the quality of design is under your control.  Have you see the Showcase?

  * search engine optimization

URLs in ExpressionEngine are SE friendly, the content and presentation is up to you - so you can build your site optimized for search engines very easily - but the onus there is on you, and designing your site for it.

We are most interested in hiring a developer/designer to produce the site but would like to see something like EE on the back end if we can find what suits our needs. So, I’d appreciate knowing how EE can address each of these priorities and incorporate the funcationality we need. Thanks for the help. Karen

Might I recommend having a look through our Pro Network? You can get an ExpressionEngine and design expert, all rolled into one!  Also, check out our Job Board if you prefer developers come to you.

We always recommend Trying ExpressionEngine before buying as well.

Post back if you have any other questions!