CMS or build it myself?

[silverpig]

I'm in an enjoyable situation now where I have a great job starting in September, and nothing but free time from now until then. One of my projects is to learn some web programming and build a website based on an idea I've had for a little while.

I have experience programming in c++, java, fortran, and perl from my physics degree.

I went through the lynda.com dreamweaver, php/sql, jquery, and some html/css tutorials, so I think I have at least a basic understanding of all the tools I'll need.

I've got some webspace already, but have set up a MAMP server on my local hackintosh for development.

The site is going to be in the social media stream. User accounts, friends, personal information. I can sort of envision how it will all work: php to handle the login, then php/sql to pull up friend information, and jquery to display the results.

Since the site will handle personal information, I want to make sure it is secure. Should I use a CMS like Drupal or Joomla to handle everything and then just build the site on top? I don't want to use a default template for the front end as I envision having to design and build it all myself, but I'm no security guru and don't know all the ins and outs of making sure user data is secure.

 

[Broheim]

well if you're gonna use php for the backend I suggest you take a look at CodeIgniter ( or any other php framework, but I prefer CodeIgniter personally) it makes a lot things a hell of a lot easier (security being one of them).

I could ramble on forever about how to secure your site, but instead I'll just link a screencast that should answer a lot of your questions.

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/codeigniter-from-scratch-security/

it's part of a rather extensive series about CodeIgniter on nettuts, some of their content is only for premium members (which isn't all that expensive) but that particular series is free. They should have a lot of tutorials and articles that should help you get started on just about every aspect of your project.

I also wanna add that your your host is also a major (if not the biggest) security concern, so be careful with who you sign up with, not all hosting providers take security as serious as it should be (or they simply can't be bothered).

 

[sourceninja]

CMS's are not a bad way to go, but I agree that if you are going to code it yourself you would be wise to use a framework such as CI.

 

[silverpig]

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll take a look at CI and will try to keep the thread updated.