Posted by NC on 05/05/06 21:03

Michael Vilain wrote:
>
> The non-profit's board wants to take the web site "to the next level".
> So I wrote up a requirements document that summarizes the functions
> of the site, current requests for enhancements, and day-to-day
> care-and-feeding.

Perhaps you could post those requirements (or a summary thereof) online
and share a link with the newsgroup? It's difficult to recommend
anything without knowing what exactly is needed... Let's start with
the obvious: do you expect your future site to run on a shared hosting
server, virtual dedicated server, or physical dedicated server?

> I'm looking for a web design and hosting company that uses the
> open-source tools--templates, php, MySQL, apache, e-commerce
> (SSL, shopping cart), listserver, etc.--for these people.

I think you need to look for two, maybe even three, companies. Hosting
is a commodity and can be dealt with as such (translation: don't bother
looking for it until you found everything else) . You may be able to
find a company that does both design and integration / implementation /
custom programming, but you may have to separate these tasks (get a
design worked out first, then ask the implementors to work it into your
applications). Also, you can have a design developed on the side and
wrap some open-source applications (osCommerce comes to mind first)
into it by yourself...

Cheers,
NC

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