Need some advice from some of you experts here, ;). I am a student learning to code. I have been studying for 3 years and together with 2 other friends we have a great knowledge in asp, aspo.net, c#, vb, vba, access, sql, oracle, web design, html, xml, soap, uml, c++, php, mySQL, unix, and windows. We are thinking of creating a new website. I would like some advice on how i can approach the development of this. The site is to be a profile website, similar to the features used by sites such as faceparty, myspace, adultmatchmakers, friendster ect..., We are extremely intrested in devloping this in asp.net as we see that as a the platform of choice with maintenance and devlopment, and performance issues. Do we create the site from scratch, or do we use a package already existant and add our own development to the package, such as dotnetnuke, rainbow, ect.. Do we need it as a CMS system, or can we create it as a portal, and all data related to non database information gets edited manually into the system. And which database do we use to implement this, ie: ms access, server sql server, or mySql. we are aiming to store multimedia content as well as text information. All help is greatly appreciated on this, as this a massive project we are lookin at taking on, cheers, miike

"And which database do we use to implement this, ie: ms access, server sql server, or mySql." Since you've chosen ASP.Net, use SQL server and stored procedures. It will be the fastest, most capable, and the System.Data namespace has classes optimized for SQL server. "Do we create the site from scratch, or do we use a package already existant and add our own development to the package, such as dotnetnuke, rainbow, ect.." I don't know...You have to look at how closely these packages match your needs, how much they cost, how much it would cost to modify them to fit your needs, and how much it would cost to create the product from scratch. (By cost I mean in terms of both your time and your money). Personally I nearly always favor doing it all myself. "Do we need it as a CMS system, or can we create it as a portal, and all data related to non database information gets edited manually into the system." How often will the "non database" information change, and who will be changing it? Since you and your friends will probably be doing both the content and the development, I would say that implementing a CMS system where you create an interface to edit nearly every graphic and piece of text on the site would be overkill...You're the developers, so you can change the page directly. Of course, if non-technical people need to change "non-database" information, then you'll need to adjust accordingly. -SN