artist community website

We want to create a highly interactive website which is a non-profit online art community through which artists working in various media can communicate and connect to collaborate on projects. We will require typical features of a community website like member pages, galleries, and forums. We also need a simple project management system that allows members to post a project, and other members to sign up to participate. Our group is still discussing & finalizing some details. Because cost is an issue, we would like to get an idea of how much this project is likely to cost. We are very open to building on, or modifying, existing open source software. We also have the code for a custom open source portal that provides some of the functionality we are looking for. Our understanding is that the code is a bit wacky, but it's available if you'd like to take a look at it. Again, we are in the planning stages right now, and hoping to get some estimates to fine-tune our expectations. ## Deliverables Rent A Coder requirements notice: As originally posted, this bid request does not have complete details. Should a dispute arise and this project go into arbitration "as is", the contract's vagueness might cause it to be interpreted against you, even though you were acting in good-faith. So for your protection, if you are interested in this project, please work-out and document the requirements onsite. We want to create a highly interactive website which is a non-profit online art community through which artists working in various media can communicate and connect to collaborate on projects. Business Objectives 1. We would like this website to be online and fully operational by January 1, 2006. 2. We would like the programmer to be available to act as tech support for 6 months (this figure may be adjusted later) while the website’s administrators become comfortable with and proficient at running it. 3. During this 6 month period, we may ask the programmer to make modifications to the code to better serve our membership and functionality needs. Functionality This website would support the following functionality: 1. A template page for each project from which the project coordinator can select criteria (such as description, medium, deadlines, number of participants, etc.) to display for artists seeking to join a project. 2. A searchable project image gallery. This should be searchable by keyword, subject and artist and contain thumbnails that link to a larger image. Other elements: the ability for viewers to leave comments; the ability for the artist to indicate by a symbol (which would act as a link to a separate page) whether or not the piece is for sale. (SEE * BELOW) 3. An artist/member page. Each artist will have his/her own page which will display the following: 1) a list of projects this person has initiated with a link to the project page; 2) an artist “rating??--the system of which is similar to the rating/feedback system on [login to view URL] and eBay (rating the “transaction?? positive, neutral or negative and commenting on why a rating was chosen); 3) artist profile, which will display information the artists chooses to include, such as name, location, email address, website address, education, exhibitions, other affiliations, a brief biography or artist’s statement, a list of books, websites, etc., the artist recommends; 4) a photo and/or avatar of the artist; a gallery of the artist’s projects; and 5) any other items we would like to include on the member’s page, such as the date on which they first joined; the number of projects in which they have participated, etc. 4. A project page (linked to and from the artist-originator page) which includes the project name & description, deadlines, type of sign-up (invitation-only or open). If the project has an open sign-up, the artist who creates the project should have the ability to delete a participant if that participant fails to meet the guidelines set up for the project (to be included in description). 5. Private/instant messaging: the ability to send a message to a member’s mailbox. This mailbox will be limited in size and should include an In box, a Sent box and the ability of the member to add his/her own folders/boxes to simplify organization. In addition, each time a member signs on to the website, a message should appear at the top of the page, next to the “Welcome . You have