Can wordpres handle large classified ad website

nikoloz

Member
Hi folks,

If here are any wordpress and or maybe not only wordpress masters - can you suggest and show examples if possible?
Can it handle large classified add websites? Im thinking of designing a property search website and have a programmer who can write it on wordpress I also have an option of hiring programmer who can write his own CMS system.
What would be suggestions?

Please help with an advice.
 
I'd avoid having a custom CMS built and stick to something like Wordpress, ModX, etc since there's documentation available and they're open source. If you hire this programmer to create a CMS and then want to completely own the site, you'll have to buy the rights to the code which presumably the programmer won't give up cheap.

Then you need to worry about whether or not someone other than the person who wrote it will understand what's going on. With using an existing CMS you never have to worry about not being able to find someone else who can take over the code with no problems.

The question I'd ask is what will your property search site do differently to Zoopla, Rightmove, etc etc etc. These sites have millions of pounds in marketing and development spent on them each year, which is why they're the top in this (highly competitive) market. How will you entice customers to use your site over/as well as these, and how will you market it? If you don't know the answers you should probably save your money and just walk away from the idea.
 
Last edited:
Sound advice from Paul.

I've seen multi-million pound companies with 10+ years trading in the classified & trade ad market pump hundreds of thousands into online directories which have sunk without a trace because they simply cant compete with the big boys.

If you've got an idea and a decent budget look for a gap in the market that would benefit from the investment.
 
Thank you for your reply, I have heared that argument over the years, that its better to make it on open source so i can easily find someone to edit it or whatever.
But, don/t you think it will load of bugs? because its open source.... or wont it be too slow or something??

You asked a right questions about zoopla, rightmove etc.... my answer is that Im not in UK, and Im not competing against them. My market is smaller with different language and my competitors websites are quite busy too but they websites are ugly, and slow... I want to make beautiful, easy to use, fast, new website and compete with them....
 
Or do you know any of the big websites like that to be on wordpress??? What could be ups and downs for that kind of start up on wordpress vs costume made CMS ?
 
Check out https://wordpress.org/showcase/ to see examples of sites using Wordpress. It's a pretty flexible CMS and can handle a range of sites.

Thank you for your reply, I have heared that argument over the years, that its better to make it on open source so i can easily find someone to edit it or whatever.
But, don/t you think it will load of bugs? because its open source.... or wont it be too slow or something??

Open source is maintained by hundreds if not thousands of programmers. Not directly you understand, but because the source code is open and readily available for anyone to look at, bugs and errors can be pointed out, fixed, and included in the latest build. With a custom CMS you're locked into using that particular programmer or agency, and as I've said they won't give up the code to another programmer without you paying them for it. I'd wager that a custom CMS will be be buggier, and slower to develop with simply because it has a smaller number of people working on it.

I'd stick with open source (at least fro now) and spend the money you'd have spent on a custom CMS on marketing and promoting the site.
 
Thank you Paul for your kind responses.
I just want to be sure just not to miss something - about that.
The programer who is willing to do it on his own CMS he is asking a 30% share of the business and he said he will look after the website for all the time... is not that a good deal? probably not.

Are you wordpress programmer or you can write your own CMS as well? I'm asking this because - people who tend to be wordpress programmer always say that wordpress is best, but those who write their own, they say wordpress is crap.
So Im looking for someone who is expert in both and his saying is some kind of a golden point not just very subjective.

Also would appreciate if other programmers would post some kind of reply.
 
The programer who is willing to do it on his own CMS he is asking a 30% share of the business and he said he will look after the website for all the time... is not that a good deal? probably not.

That's for you to decide. I know nothing about your business model, costs, projected turnover, etc. If you're giving away 30% of your business, I'd get legal advice. If I recall, owning at least 26% of a business makes you an equal partner in that business, so be sure you're happy to give that power to someone. Is the 30% in lieu of direct payment? If so, what incentive is there for them to work on it with no guarantee they'll even get paid or get paid well? They could get half way through the build and decide it's not worth their time if they doubt the integrity of the business. 30% of nothing is nothing.

It all sounds a bit too risky to me, but then again I'm getting an outsider's view of the situation.

Are you wordpress programmer or you can write your own CMS as well? I'm asking this because - people who tend to be wordpress programmer always say that wordpress is best, but those who write their own, they say wordpress is crap.
So Im looking for someone who is expert in both and his saying is some kind of a golden point not just very subjective.

Also would appreciate if other programmers would post some kind of reply.

I know what you mean, I see a lot of people promote Wordpress for every type of site when often it's not the best choice.

Do you think you need a custom CMS? Did you consider this before the developer mentioned it? Why do they feel you should pay them to develop one for you?

You may find you need a custom CMS but this should come from research and a thought-out business plan. Write a checklist of what you need the site to do and look at open source and premium CMSs out there to find one that does what you need it to do. If you can't find one, you might be better having a custom one created, but most existing CMSs out there can be modified to do exactly what you want if you have a developer who knows what they're doing.

I've heard too many stories about developers biting off more than they can chew and vanishing with payment, or a businesses paying a hell of a lot more than they expected to because the custom system doesn't work as well as they'd expected.

If I was you I'd stick with a tried and tested CMS (at least for the time being) that A) you know you can get support for, and B) has millions of users who can vouch for its speed and stability.
 
Thanks again, for your kind reply.

Here Im posting links to what Im trying to do... obviously you wont be able to read it as its in Georgian language - but i belive you can translate maybe with chrome plug-in? and understand the basic idea... Don't know about the money making lead yet... but considering few options, definitely no banners.
Its just a front and made only. Now I need to decide on back end. Do you think its doable in wordpress?

http://404.ge/zviadi/
http://404.ge/zviadi/list.html
http://404.ge/zviadi/inside.html
http://404.ge/zviadi/profile.html


here also I'm posting website for similar websites in my region, i mean real estate ad websites to whom I want to cutthroat competition - www.myhome.ge busy www.place,ge busy www.allproperties.ge
 
There are number of site owners using Wordpress technology for sites like these. But WP is not much secure as we can do with other PHP frameworks.
You should hire a professional developer who can develop a secure site for you. I know Yii is good framework you can consider for this project.

If you are going to WP then you should keep backup of your data regularly, because anybody can hack wp site easily.
 
It depends upon many things. Are you expecting a lot of traffic or work? WordPress is fine if you just want to start with something. In the long run, it might not be the feasible option. However, if you are using WordPress, don't overload with too many plugins and information, then this might not be a suitable option.
 
Back
Top