I’ve got an idea, and I want to run it by you to see what you think. So the majority that responded on the poll said they wanted to read more about “building websites in a specific language”. But what does that mean? Will I write about C# and developing an ASP.Net application?
Boring.
How about building a PHP site from scratch?
Nah.
Alright then, what if I took WordPress and made a porn site with it?
HELL YEAH!
So here’s what I’m really thinking. You guys want to learn how to build a website, I want it to be fun and entertaining for everyone involved. Last year I wanted to build a “Glutten free” site that would showcase recipes and products that people who have this dietary need could shop for. I don’t find that very entertaining. Nor was I able to complete that particular series, so screw that I say.
Instead of that, I’m going to be tapping a completely different market and creating a photo site using WordPress as the core of it. From concept to development to launch and then on to marketing and monetizing, I’ll describe each and every step I’m taking along the way so that you can follow along and do each step as they come out.
In the end of it all, I’ll get a new website that I wouldn’t mind supporting, and you get a new web site for yourself too, or several ideas, tips and tricks along the way. I am also planning on making everything downloadable so you could just grab the entire project files and do whatever you want with it.
The website you build for yourself doesn’t have to be porn, nor does mine, but I will be focusing on an image based site, and it will be mildly risque. I hope it makes the whole experience more enjoyable for everyone involved, I know the guys will like it, I hope the girls do too. More on the specifics will come in a later post.
Why go with WordPress?
I decided I wanted to create an image/photo based site since anyone can pick up a camera and take photos. Anyone. That makes the photo itself a great central focus for the website, in my opinion. Also, I’ve found that image based sites tend to do very well with traffic, so there should be a lot of visitors hitting an image site.
I also decided to go with WordPress instead of actually hand-coding an entire site due to time. One of the biggest challenges I’ll face is the extremely slow pace that I’ll have to take to document my steps and provide additional ideas and thoughts about what I’m doing, or why I’m doing what I’m doing.
I will probably dive into a little php through the course, but really I wanted to try to keep it available to absolute beginners too. Another reason I chose to go with WordPress. There will be some up and down in terms of complexity from post to post, but I know you can handle that just fine. WordPress is a great tool, and in many, many cases, it’s all you really need to build a great site. It doesn’t do everything, but it does exactly what we need it to do for this project.
So, I guess I need a camera
You might laugh, but I don’t have a camera, so that’s one thing I’m going to need to change. I can’t create a photo site without a camera! It’s OK though, because I don’t need to have the camera right away, I’ll need it by summertime. I’ve got plenty of time for that later, as there is plenty to cover before we actually start building the site.
Summertime in California…I bet you could guess what I’m going to focus the site on.
Throw in your topics for the syllabus in the comments below if you have any special requests. I’m going to brainstorm the full scope and topics of the project over the next few days so there is plenty of time to influence the topics I’ll cover. I have a few drafted posts waiting in the queue that I might touch up and send out in the mean time, but I’m getting revved up to go full board on this. Are you ready to build a website?
I can’t hear you! Are you ready?
Alrighty then, let’s get this party started people!
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Wayne John is a web developer in Southern California that shares his 25+ years of programming and web development experience freely and happily to anyone willing to learn. He also loathes speaking in the third person. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you 
I’ve toned down..."
not really what i expected out of this post, i admit that i was drown by the porn site title, but only because of the requirements that do in such a site ( paid membership, maybe video chat and other things) that involve technologies that are actually useful to know in any sites, so i was expecting maybe an already built site and that you were going to give an overview of the tools that you used, so a bit disappointed but since you want to document your process i wish you the best and i hope that something useful can come out of your project
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Bell, read my comments.
Naughty. Very naughty! Shameless…
)) But, still an awesome idea! What kind of porn site, Wayne? 
Hetero, gay, amateur, or all of these together? This is a very important question. Each category has its own targeted traffic and i’ve noticed that amateur sites, such as Hentai lolicon or bestiality sites, VERY UNFORTUNABLE, are most visited and have many paying subscribers… I say very unfortunable, because i consider hentai lolicon as being child porn cartoons and bestiality sites, as very abusive! So, these being off discussion from the start, are remaining Gay and Hetero straight categories. Now, knowing that gay sites are almost as many as hetero ones and that is a severe competition in these domains, how can you imagine that it is possible to succeed? World Wide Web is a perv., Wayne… 
Sounds like a FANTASTIC idea!!!!
I new was keeping the URL “fetishdriven” for a reason. It sounds like it will be a great learning experience for an amateur. I will try to keep up with you seasoned(over the hill) prefessionals:-).
So when do we start???? HUH? HUH? HUH?
Chuck
HAHAHAHA, yeah, sorry about that. I wanted a catchy title, and when you need that, a sure way is to bring out the porn.
Where is your blog anyway, you don’t link to it when you comment.
I’ll have a good variety, and as things progress, I might add or take away as needed. But there will be some PHP stuff involved for sure. How can you not?
LOL, dude your killing my blogs blogroll title with “porn”.
Yea, go with Wordpress & heavy with the php. I’m so sick of the wordpress plugins, etc. like the all-in-one-seo plugin (lame). I suck at php, but (think) I’m killer with SEO
I trashed the all-in-one-seo plugin & managed to code my own Meta tags for my Wordpress site, the one I sent the email about, a while ago.
Now I’m working on better code for my wordpress google-sitemap/xml.
All those wordpress plugins are just so bloated with crap, backlinks, support me PayPal buttons, etc…
hahahaha Roger, yeah, the world needs more porn right? More details will be forthcoming, I’m still working out the niche specifics. The true reason I’m going this route is due to the number of requests I’ve had recently that fit around this idea. I’m going to be killing a few birds with this stone, and for the most part, many things will apply to any site you might want to toss up on the net.
Lindsay, maybe you could provide some graphic work into the project? There will be plenty of time, and we could work out some sort of deal between us to make it worth your time. You’d be able to share this end result in your portfolio too.
I thought about making a members area, since as you said, people REALLY want the details on how to set that up. I’ve heard it several times myself. It’s on my list, and I’m still working up a complete game plan, so hang on until I reveal the syllabus. It might be something I circle back near the end to put into the site, might be part of the core. Unsure, but it is on my mind.
How’s that for a political response, lol.
zzyzx, I’ll get a few “look back” posts done during this process. I’m not going to repeat something I’ve already written, but I’ll be referencing older posts through the whole thing.
I am so ready for this “starting from scratch” experience. As of right now, I’ve been goin’ back ‘n forth on almost every post in your entire blog just reading the stuff that I feel would help me to become informed. Really looking forward to this so…I’m all in.
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HAHA.. this is hilarious.. I love it – and it couldn’t have come at a better time! We actually just got hired to do some marketing and graphics for a porn company.. Not something i’d ever share on the portfolio, but it does pay the bills.
Heres a question about your site you’re building.. Will you make accessable only for members will accounts and will you integrate a payment method to get an account?? Because that would be a true porn site, and something people often want to figure out how to do with wordpress (not just for porn)
And you’re doing this because there’s an unfulfilled need in the marketplace? I don’t get it. What’s the specific market?
I’m not feeling prudish about this; I just want to hear about your underserved niche.
The gluten-free one actually makes more sense from that POV.
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