Web Design advice?

I've been asked to design and build a revenue-generating website by someone. All I've ever done is html based info sites in Dreamweaver, so I've never researched things like accounts, ringfencing content, secure payments etc. Is that stuff really complicated and requires expensive software/servers etc? Or is it something I could pick up with a bit of rooting around the net?

Cheers for any advice.

You could have a rummage here and see if anything takes your fancy.

I designed an ecommerce system for bookshops now in use by the government. It's uh not easy, there tons of things you have to learn and do right. Best to buy an engine in for sure (or get a open source one) and read as much stuff as possible!

Have a look at Actinic (http://www.actinic.co.uk/), they have a very sleek system that is fully integrated with merchants and backend systems like sage.

also, check with the host to see if they offer anything along those lines. also ask if they have Fantastico installed.

Use ASP and MS's Web Development tools...

Better to use PHP and a Unix server. Windows Server 2003 crashes, especially if you are using a shared server. Also, PHP has more open source.

I've seen (and bought from sites powered by!) osCommerce http://www.oscommerce.com/

It's GPL licensed, have a look under their showcase link to see some of the sites using it in live environments, there's a bit of documentation on how to set it all up etc. too. Some of it may come in handy for other things!

Wow. I think my head's going to fall off. I think I'll tell them I can't do it...

stay clear of OSCommerce if you know what's good for you, it's a spaghetti junction nightmare.

These guys offer a very good eBusiness solution if you're in the market for one. :o>

One rule: KISS!

mrtricks, my best advice would be this.

If you've never done anything like that before and have no idea where to start then dont take the job on.