I am currently evaluating community site scripts - especially for dating sites.
The big question is: Make or buy?
Having a ready-made software had the following advantages:
- a lot less expenses for development (e.g. 1000 USD vs. 50,000-100,000 USD)
- constants updates and new features
- a "standard" other people understand -> easy to find freelancers or companies for modifications or data migrations
- no need to write documentation, as it is already delivered by the manufacturer
Disadvantages:
- if a hacker finds out a security exploit/hole, all sites are affected and you need to react quickly
- flexibility - you are restricted in what you can do and are limited to improve usability
- big overhead, as you often don't need all the bells and whistles
Concerning one of the major drawbacks of a ready-made software, I would like to let you know how I personally evaluate the flexibility of a software.
Example: A script for a dating site
- look at the dating sites market and find out the top 5 dating sites
- try to "clone" those sites and see whether the ready-made software is flexible enough to modify/adapt the default site to look/behave like those sites. If successful, it is very likely you will also be able to implement you own current and future ideas with this software.
Here, I quickly reach the conclusion, this is not (yet?) possible with Dolpin:
- even simple things such as an effective sign-up like on flirt.com, match.com, etc. is not possible.
Sign-up is the most crucial part of a website - as maximizing the number up signups will influence the growth of a site. If you have 200 signups instead of 50, this makes a big difference
- the navigation / usability relies on a fixed structure. It is not possible to make the site more usable and reduce the number of clicks to reach a goal
- it is not possible to disable/overwrite all functionality
- it is a big "mess" trying to implement a 100% different layout/design that has nothing to do with the original.
E.g. try to implement a site like easyflirt.de, flirt.com, meetic.com, mingle2.com or plentyoffish.com with it.
