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udara22Flag for Australia

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PHP based Open Source Online Review Software

Hi,

I would like to develop an Online Review website similar to http://www.urbanspoon.com or www.rottentomatoes.com. Does anyone know any good php open source solutions that would do the job?

Thanks heaps experts
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OmniUnlimited
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I enjoy using WordPress.  WordPress is very robust, and very customizeable.  As a web designer, I create all our websites through WordPress.

To create websites like the ones you mentioned would simply be a question of creating some custom plugins and a custom theme.
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ASKER

@OmniUnlimited : Thanks for the reply. I use wordpress too. Do you know any good plugin that would do the job?
Not specifically.  You see, I am very hands on.  I am very mistrusting of someone elses code, especially if my site is going to be somewhat involved and I have no idea as to what potential conflicts could come up.

I take it you've never made your own custom plugin?
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ASKER

Yeah, Im pretty new to Wordpress and havent had a chance to make a custom plugin. But im php is not too bad, you got any tips?
Sure, making a new plugin is easy.  Simply create a folder in the wp-content/plugins folder with the name of your plugin, and create a new php file named <nameofyourplugin>.php.  In the head of the file just include the following:

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: <Name of Plugin>
Plugin URI: <The website URL>
Description: <A description of what it does>
Version: 1.0
Author: <Your Name>
Author URI: <Your website URL>
License: GPL2
*/
?>

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Then, all you have to do once you've uploaded this to the server is go the the wp-admin dashboard, then go to plugins and find your plugin and activate it.

Here you can set up all your hooks, functions, widgets, etc. that you need and tie them into your custom theme.
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ASKER

Thanks OmniUnlimited, one more thing. Wordpress is getting 'VERY' popular and I use it for standard website development. Do you know why its so popular and what are the difference between Joomla and wordpress when it comes to CMS driven websites and functionality?
Well, I can only offer my humble opinion as to why I think it is so popular.  WordPress is SO much easier to use and implement than Joomla.  To me, Joomla's downfall is that it tries to be everything to everybody and in trying to make things simpler for people, they ended up making it more complicated.  Joomla suffers from massive issues from conflicts, major difficulty in creating even minor changes in programming, and a much larger footprint.

Wordpress is so straightforward.  As a PHP programmer, you will LOVE WordPress.  It is so easily customizeable.  You can create themes and plugins on the fly, the hooks allow you to intercept and easily modify many of WordPress' core functionality (try THAT with Joomla), it easily integrates other technologies (javascript, jQuery, java, flash, etc.), Joomla does not.  IMHO there is no comparison between WordPress and Joomla.
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OmniUnlimited
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