rip|TEAM

ATTN WEBSITE GURUS

looking to develop better websites and get more familar with various programs...with better templates, graphics, fading graphics(slideshows) etc....any of you website gurus out there recommend any software packages with awesome templates?  Im looking for software thet l;ets you create fading pictures, slideshows etc....whether its flash, animated gifs etc....   I

I would get a CMS to start with, that provides the base framework of the site ... then you can expand it with themes, modules & plugins that add on features like slideshows etc. The more popular of a CMS you go with the more template and module options you're going to have.

Wordpress is quite simple and originally just meant for blogging, but you can really do a surprisingly huge amount with it, kind of unintentionally super flexible.

Joomla is very powerful, with a huge community to draw support from, but can be very complex in some respects.

im not a website designer or anything but i do mess around with graphics. I havent gotten into animation yet because im working on my comp TIA, but im pretty good at designing what people want. You can use me I guess for whatever. Just ask my pops. I designed the signature he uses on his profile. Id be more than willing to help you out. Anything to add to my portfolio.

Go with Xenforo or vBulletin, and then use a mod on it, and or use wordpress as the "frontpage".

Joomla is fine for some stuff, but you would still have to get some forum software and some bridges to make it work, which will end out in a lot of complications back and forth, and in the end you probably would have to pay to get some of the better plugins and bridges between the forum and joomla, so find some forum software instead, like Xenforo or vBulletin... both cost money, but its worth it in the end since you most likely are going to end up with spending money on joomla...

Im currently running with XenForo my self with XenPorta as a portal mod on it... ptfo-ftw.com
(im still working on the template so please dont mind that it looks sorta messed up some places xD)

its the same setup they are running on Battlefieldo.com and mohhq.com...

The only down side with Xen is that its new, so there isnt as many plugins as there is for vBulletin,
and would also need a database with no size limit.

I wouldn't expect a forum to be a high priority for a Kubota dealership, but yh, WP is definitely useful as a front or landing page, that can link out to other components, like a shopping cart system or gallery or whatever.