How long would it take for the average developer to make something like Neogaf.com / Resetera.com?

[qazwsxedcrfv1234]

Not including server costs, how many hours would it take for an average developer to make something like www.resetera.com / www.neogaf.com - including style and functionality etc?

Based on the hours, I can work out the estimated cost.

 

[digitalpoint]

If you want even a chance to get a realistic estimate, you’re better off itemizing the exact features you are looking for rather than asking a developer to go to an unfamiliar site to try and figure out the features you want. If you aren’t able to quantify what you are looking for very specifically, how can you expect someone else to figure out what it is you are looking for exactly?

 

[Mendalla]

Given the forum this is in, I suspect they need to "purchase a license or associate their login with their license so they can ask in the appropriate forum". But, yeah, some detailed specs would be needed.

 

[Arantor]

I'm actually more cynical than that - I suspect they don't currently have a licence but if the price was right, would buy one to then have the work done on it.

Thing is, copying an existing popular forum isn't going to make you popular... because it's not about the site or its features, but the people and the content... and no amount of feature building is going to replace those two things.

 

[briansol]

looks like it's just a custom skin. i don't see too much 'development' or add ons.

Can probably buy a skin for 50 bucks and tweak it to get there

 

[spamme]

we need a simple skin like forums.freebsd.org. Is it available somewhere?

 

[TPerry]

we need a simple skin like forums.freebsd.org. Is it available somewhere?

Doesn't look like it would be that hard to emulate it using the default XF style, which it is probably based off of. Someone that was not familiar with working with the styles would have a hard time, but if you've been using it very long, it should be fairly easy to do.
There are several styles in the resource area (many that are free), but you do have to be licensed to access them.
Here is the header of one very similar to the site you point out that would only take a little tweaking.

 

[Paul B]

we need a simple skin like forums.freebsd.org. Is it available somewhere?

Once you add your forum user name to your account you can post in the styling forum for support.

 

[Ricsca]

They have nothing special... You install xenforo, find a free or paid skin (no more than 50 dollars) and you have your own forum...

 

[qazwsxedcrfv1234]

I'm actually more cynical than that - I suspect they don't currently have a licence but if the price was right, would buy one to then have the work done on it.

Thing is, copying an existing popular forum isn't going to make you popular... because it's not about the site or its features, but the people and the content... and no amount of feature building is going to replace those two things.

How many add-ons / plugins do you think this "community" Xenforo forum has?

Is it fairly vanilla? If so, it looks pretty stacked in terms of functionality.

I mean... I haven't come across anything that makes me think that this specific Xenforo forum is "lacking" in any way.

 

[Arantor]

This site, if I had to guess, is running a custom home page, plus the official ElasticSearch, Resource Manager and Media Gallery addons. I think the ticket system, manual and purchase system are also extra/custom.

Running a heavily more custom version of XF than that would be detrimental for customers as it would imply things that you don’t get when you buy.

 

[qazwsxedcrfv1234]

looks like it's just a custom skin. i don't see too much 'development' or add ons.

Can probably buy a skin for 50 bucks and tweak it to get there

They have nothing special... You install xenforo, find a free or paid skin (no more than 50 dollars) and you have your own forum...

This site, if I had to guess, is running a custom home page, plus the official ElasticSearch, Resource Manager and Media Gallery addons. I think the ticket system, manual and purchase system are also extra/custom.

Running a heavily more custom version of XF than that would be detrimental for customers as it would imply things that you don’t get when you buy.

Looking at the pricing page, the "core" version of this forum (including a lot of the plugins that you mentioned) can be had for $345.

If Neogaf / Resetera don't have a lot of features implemented, then this means that a "copycat site" can be had for less than $1000 - if one wanted all the "core features" plus a few extra add-ons (including branding removal).

Obviously, development charges (for tweaking etc) would be extra. But if one were to hire a PHP developer from Upwork etc (at a rate of around $30), then that would mean that the total cost shouldn't exceed $2000 on a normal day, and maybe $3000 on a really bad day.

Thing is, copying an existing popular forum isn't going to make you popular... because it's not about the site or its features, but the people and the content... and no amount of feature building is going to replace those two things.

I have a WordPress blog, and update it every 1-2 weeks at present. I could "start small" where I pay for the "basics" - ie $345 for the "basic forum", $79 for the XFtoWP plugin, and then hire a dev to "fix up" my site. I'm probably looking at a total cost of about $1000-1500.

That's just the basics... But that's also a solid enough foundation to work from.