I spent nearly the entire weekend working on the Listonga.com website. After starting and not completing a number of tasks, I decided I need to get a plan in place for the site's development. Basically, a checklist that I can use to so completion of the important steps.
For example, this weekend I started working on a bulletin board/forum for the site. But I hadn't really given any thought to whether or note this is a feature that we need. After thinking about it (5 hours after starting work on adding it), I decided that a forum would only be a positive feature when the site has a strong base of regular visitors. So, at this point I have decided that there will be no forum at launch. BTW, I was using phpBB3, a free, open-source forum board that is amazing...and fairly simple to install. Check it out at www.phpBB.com.
I hope to have a membership login for the site so we can offer some cool stuff for regular visitors. Pages available only to members and the ability to leave comments or have a page of your favorite links. Some of these features will not be available on launch day, but I hope to have them added as the site develops. And, of course, membership will be FREE. This site will make money off of advertising and (possibly) product sales. Membership will not be a money maker.
I didn't waste the entire weekend. I completed a page called Regularly Updated Lists. This page includes links to lists that are frequently updated (weekly or more often) such as Billboard's top songs, New York Times Best Sellers and what celebrity is having a birthday today. Check it out and see what you think. Remember, since this site is pre-launch, some of the links may not work. I am still testing them.
