Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Secure Communication via Website

Options
  • 22-05-2015 9:36am
    #1
    Tester46
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭


    Hi, I am a complete noobie - I wouldn't know code if it sneaked up behind me and bit me on the ... so sorry if I am posting in the wrong place - if I am it is completely down to my own ignorance.


    I am working on a social project which aims to link a group of people in society with other people. The basic idea is this:

    1. The people in the group register on a free website. By registering, they are saying that they are willing to be securely contacted by others.
    2. Other people who are not members of the website can contact them (and no, it is not a dating website, it is designed to allow certain vulnerable groups to link with others securely and safely to ask them questions and get answers).
    3. The key element is that contact is securely handled through the website, mostly for the protection of the first group of people i.e. those people who registered with the website as people willing to be contacted.
    4. Each person will know that they are getting a message through the website, but they will not know the real identify of the person at the other end.
    5. The website will host the communications, but will not store either the content of communications or the identities of the parties involved - these will be automatically deleted say 10 days after the conversation ends.
    6. Ideally, the website will have (a) a moderated forum facility and (b) a blogging facility also.


    My question is this:


    Is this the kind of thing that can be bought off the shelf as a template website from an online company like SquareSpace, and if so where would I find it?


    If not, who would I go to to produce it? I am doing this on a non-profit basis so I don't have huge money to spend. If I can get it up and running, I may be able to apply for a government grant to upgrade it in the future, once I have my proof-of-concept up and running.


    Also, I really really don't know coding, so I won't be able to code this myself, even with the most helpful of suggestions from you guys!


    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Tester46
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭Tester46


    Hi, I haven't had any responses to this so I guess I'm in the wrong forum.

    Can someone tell me what forum I should post my question in? I'm not really sure which of the web/internet forums is best.

    Thanks:)


  • Options
    #3
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    I'm not sure where you would go to get the kind of answer you're looking for.

    To answer your first question, no it's not the kind of thing you would find in any of the drag & drop site builders (like Squarespace). In fact it doesn't really sound like the kind of thing you're likely to find in any commercial off the shelf package.

    The rest of it isn't really a question, it's an entire project. It's not likely to get a quick and easy answer. To make things harder for you, you've already specified that your not technical and you have a tiny budget and you're already throwing in the extras like forums/blogs.

    off the top of my head, the obvious options for you are:

    1) learn to code, write it yourself
    2) partner with someone who can code who is willing to donate their time (perhaps someone else involved in the same special interest group)
    3) get money/funding and pay someone to write the whole thing for you

    Have you written a requirements document/spec? Put together any wireframes/models to illustrate how you'd see it working, there's plenty of prototyping tools out there that require little more than drag and drop skills.


  • Options
    #4
    Boxman
    Registered Users Posts: 109 ✭✭Boxman


    Perhaps these guys could offer you advice/support?

    http://socialentrepreneurs.ie/


  • Options
    #5
    alexandoy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3 ✭alexandoy


    Maybe you should try open source social networks such as elgg. But still i do not think you will find the group to non registered group feature. But it a custom job so it can surely be done by freelancers.


  • Options
    #6
    Tester46
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭Tester46


    Hi,

    Thanks for the suggestions - some great ideas there. At least now I know that it is a custom design job and not an off-the-shelf job. I will try to contact freelance developers. Someone might be interested. I can afford to pay, but I don't have a huge corporate budget, I guess that's the point I was trying to make.

    Any ideas where I might look to find good freelancers (as opposed to commercial developers)?

    Thanks again for the advice.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    Here's a good place to start:

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055234599

    If you haven't already, it would definitely be in your interest to put together a more details specification first.

    Be really, really careful about who you choose to do this work for you. If you're talking about securing the information of vulnerable groups it's essential you pick someone with the appropriate experience and understanding of the levels of security required.


  • Options
    #8
    Chickentown
    Registered Users Posts: 252 ✭✭Chickentown


    You could try outsourcing on elance (https://www.elance.com) or similar, maybe some guys on here have had some experience with it and could advise you better


Advertisement