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General Discussion

Posted by Unsubscribed User
Unsubscribed User
7,176 Points

Help or Guidance for website !

Hey everyone!

So a friend mine knows a real estate agency that needs a new website. I don't have the knowledge and skills to build one but I may want to learn it (as long as this project isn't too hard - and that is why I need you to give me some feedback!)

So the website needs to:

  • have a "library" or list of propierties
  • ability to search for properties
  • add properties for real estate agency

Check this website out to know what kind of website I mean (I know that that is just a theme, but just imagine this website with functionality):

http://preview.themeforest.net/item/realtyspace-real-estate-wordpress-theme/full_screen_preview/15965811?ref=cirvitis&ref=cirvitis&clickthrough_id=852639521&redirect_back=true

SO MY ACTUAL QUESTION(S): How would I go about building such a site? (What languages? Do I need databases? OR Is there a easier way instead of coding it? Like themes or a service that offers something like this?

I'd really appreciate any kind of help or guidance on how to do something like this

Thanks!

2 Answers

Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
16,713 Points
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
16,713 Points

Hi Patrick, as you send a link to a theme, I think that if you want just to stay apart of coding, the easiest solution is to purchase the theme of the link that you provide and install it on Wordpress, it would have functionality and features that you may need. If you do, you will have to change and adjust some things like the content and the style you need for the page. There is a great track here in Treehouse about Wordpress and how to develop templates for this platform.

By the other hand, if you want to make the site from 0, you must know HTML, CSS, JS which are technologies used for creating websites. In addition you will have to learn a backend language such PHP, JAVA, PYTHON, C#, etc.

In databases is likely that you need a relational database such as MySQL, SQL Server, etc.

In this case I'll recomend you the following mix to learn: HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, and MySQL; this because it can be easier to install or host and maybe to learn. You can learn these technologies here in Treehouse.

However if you have a limited deadline and you don't have the programming skill, I strongly recommend you to purchese the theme and just learn how to configure it.

Unsubscribed User
Unsubscribed User
7,176 Points

Awesome! Thank you for your answer, that is truly helpful :)

And how does this work with the wordpress theme? Is Wordpress offering the server storage for all the properties or could I only host the website on Wordpress and then still work on the backend stuff?

Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
16,713 Points
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
Jorge Emilio Domínguez Nájera
16,713 Points

Hi again Patrick, look Wordpress was made for blogging purposes, which mean that in the past served just for doing blogs. However nowadays Wordpress has many features, and the community (Wordpress is open source) has developed a lot of resources to adapt this platform to many uses. Now you can launch a e-commerce site on Wordpress, blogging, and even launch some web apps that fit the structure of wordpress.

I recomend you to visit https://wordpress.org/ and get involve in the structure and possibilities of wordpress. You have to be aware that the functionality that you will get will depends entirely of the theme you add. If you are thinking to buy a theme, be careful and test it (the live preview) to realize if the theme matches the capabilities you really want, because if there is a functionality that you need and the theme doesn't have, you will have to create it or maybe look for a plugin to make it works.

So, responding to you question, Wordpress has a backend structure defined that allow you to come up with solutions as I mentioned before (blogging, e-commerce, websites). The backend works in PHP language. You will have to look for a hosting (goDaddy, hostigator, or even Wordpress it self) to host the wordpress theme. It will be enought to have the theme running and the functionality will be what the theme or template provides.

So, in short words, if you have the theme, is only need that you host the theme in any hosting of your preference, and then modify mainly the content and styles, if you don't have any knowledge of coding, wordpress offers you a user friendly interface. However the options will depend entirely of the theme you have. In the backend all will depend of the functionality that the template has, you don't have to worry of the backend, just considering that this feature (the backend structure) depends of wordpress and the template.

I hope to be useful, in addition I strongly recommend you to check the wordpress courses in Treehouse, are very clear and give you the tools you may need. https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks/learn-wordpress and https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks/wordpress-development

Best regards.