I wouldn't touch a project like that if I were you.
I'm much more tech savvy than you and I've found it difficult to set up a few simple blog based web sites. I got there in the end but it took time. If you want a project, find something which uses the skills you have.
Post 9 also contains sound advice.
It seems phone apps are the way to go now.
There are only a few cycling based apps and all are NG.
Don't be discouraged. A good idea and a few lucky breaks and it may be a winner.
Thanks guys. I almost am back from my latest small trip now (from uluru central australia) and will address your points later. pq can i email you somehow? I have a second idea, quite simple.
Ray are you the guy from warm showers?
fred i'm so far behind the times. I still don't even use a mobile. I know. I need to catch up a bit.
When Neil was pitching his ideas about crazyguyonabike, no one gave it a chance. (I was there)
When I had the idea for a website that would pull the entire touring world together for inspiration with no language barriers (The Loaded Touring Bike - Photo Gallery) no one gave it a chance.
Unlike Neil, I didn't know the first thing about the internet/coding/etc.but I knew my idea for a site would go worldwide quickly and in the end I taught myself how to create it, through independent study. [www.loadedtouringbikes.com]
If you want to create something you have to run with it. It's your idea, it's your baby. In general, no one else will care, or they certainly won't care as much as you do.
That said, since creating The Loaded Touring Bike - Photo Gallery pages, I've had my hand in designing, creating and maintaining several other wide-audience web successes. If you want to contact me through my website, I'll listen to your ideas, see if I can offer any advice or further ideas and will keep it quiet. I've never tried to make a dime from my own site thus far (my gift to the cycling world) and certainly don't need to borrow ideas from someone else. I have too many as it is. :)
Thanks for your reply and input canyon. At the moment i have my hands and head full with a few other projects so i'm not able to start on those ideas yet. I think if i'm going to put a website together, i probably should do a course since i learn better that way.
But i will say this, my second idea for a touring website was a very simple idea. It would just be about gathering statistics from tourers so that we could find out how many people were touring each year. Some time ago we discussed that question on this site and basically the only thing we/anyone can say for sure is that more people are touring than ever and its a growing phenomenon. Beyond that, its impossible to get a handle on the matter. (Certainly i do'nt think crazyguy has everyone on it even if he catches a lot of people. But it seems that the majority of site users are are americans doing short american tours. )
I just thought it would be a good thing to try to do. And then i thought it would be a smart move to link that site to my other site.
So if you or anyone else wanted to have a go at setting up a very simple site that would induce tourers to log their basic details. (none of that crap about how many miles they do in a day or a year or a lifetime). Just where did you go when. That's all i want to know and i think it would be interesting to know.
I also think it would be quite useful information for manufacturers to know. But that's not really a particular concern of mine.