Trying to figure out which web technologies to use for a web project

[Mezzoforte]

I'm interested in creating an website that lets users create discussions and write comments. It sounds pretty simple, and indeed the first step is pretty simple, but I hope to be able to build something reasonably sophisticated. (Requirements: Large number of registered users, possibility to express how individual posts are related to other posts and display posts depending on this.) I hope I'm not being too vague.

The question is, which technologies would I do well to use? I am a programming beginner - the only language I know reasonably well is Ada (i.e., I took a university course and did pretty well). I have learnt some of the basics of PHP and MySQL (HTML and CSS aren't a problem) because it seemed to me that the straight-forward way to make my website system was to create MySQL databases, access them with PHP and then manage the output with HTML and CSS. In order to make the website more interactive, it also seems it would need a fair share of JavaScript.

It seems, however, that this might not be the most straight-forward way. I realize it will take a lot of time, but I learn quickly and should be able to make it using these technologies. But maybe it would be more efficient to use some kind of web application framework? I've heard some talk about Ruby on Rails, for example. Would that be a better option, or does it come with any serious restrictions or problems?

I'm for the moment mostly interested in creating the system in a development environment, but hopefully down the road it will lead to something that can be launched publicly.

[moldaviax]

isn't there off the shelf software you could use for this? or is it more an exercise in programming?

M.

[CptPicard]

Rails or Django depending on your language preference.

[ofnuts]

I'm interested in creating an website that lets users create discussions and write comments. It sounds pretty simple, and indeed the first step is pretty simple, but I hope to be able to build something reasonably sophisticated..

Re-inventing PhpBB or myBB?

[AlexDudko]

Stay with PHP+MySQL+JavaScript+HTML+CSS

[Mezzoforte]

ofnuts: Fair question, but I'm not aiming to make something like that. I want to move away from thread-based, chronological discussions. I haven't tried implementing any of those myself, but I think threads and chronological discussions are the foundation of them. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

[Mezzoforte]

Stay with PHP+MySQL+JavaScript+HTML+CSS

It seems this option would work fine, although I have to put in quite a lot of work until I have something that works.

What are the main differences between using, say, Rails and the combination mentioned (PHP+MySQL+JavaScript+HTML+CSS)? Any particular advantages/drawbacks?

[juancarlospaco]

Python, Bottle, HTLM5, CSS3, JS, Ninja-IDE, WebP, SVG, WebM, JQuery,
you got Free hosting to start at https://appengine.google.com,
or Pay a hosting service of your choice, thats it, good luck dude!

[gsmanners]

So, you're trying to create a wiki? It's awfully hard to find a concept in web coding that hasn't been pretty thoroughly done already.

[Mezzoforte]

So, you're trying to create a wiki? It's awfully hard to find a concept in web coding that hasn't been pretty thoroughly done already.

Nope, no wiki. Wikis are good for trying to represent facts, but they're not as good for discussions that don't relate closely to facts. It's awfully hard to find an existing concept in web coding that hasn't been done well already, but there are probably innumerable new concepts that might find their place on the web (or replace old concepts).