If you're tired of the endless stream of product announcements and articles on "tactical guidance" then today is your lucky day. This afternoon we are featuring some simple website scripts (six open-source and two commercial) that you can deploy in a few minutes and benefit from in the long term. That benefit (in addition to all those new, high quality inbound links you will be building) is greater exposure with your target audience in both the search and social spaces. Let's get started with Websites You Can Build This Weekend.
Open Source Weekend Warrior
For those on a limited budget, check out these five websites you can get up and running this weekend.
WeBid is an open source auction script that comes with an inbuilt payment system (includes PayPal and Authorize.net). WeBid is in the beta stages but activity seems pretty heavy with several mods and themes already released. This script could be used as a pure-play auction website but those with their creativity caps on might be interested in doing something a little more special - perhaps a knock off of recently popular Fiverr where you auction off your own services.
LimeSurvey is the best known and most powerful open source survey application on the market. Surveys can include branching, custom preferred layout and design (using a web template system), and can provide basic statistical analysis of survey results. Surveys can be either publicly accessible or be strictly controlled through the use of "once-only" tokens for each survey participant.
Sharetronix is making inroads in the private, enterprise-level micro-blogging niche. Your company can set up Sharetronix and have your employees and their clients communicating in minutes - away from Twitter and in your own controlled environment.
Yourls is a script that enables anyone to run their own URL shortening service (similar to TinyURL). Features include the ability to make the script public or private, sequential or custom URL keywords, a bookmarklet so users can shorten and share links, great stats for the price (including clicks, referrers and geo). While the URL shortening market is flooded with solutions, running your own service could help you maintain brand equity - and it's perfect to impress your Twitter followers.
PhpLD is a widely used directory script. While the Web could do better with far fewer spammy directories, really taking a directory seriously could pay big dividends in the long run. For example, consider using the directory script as a repository for links that are of interest to those in your industry and you'll make friends and gain some notoriety (if not some new links back to your site) in the process.
Dokuwiki is one of the best wiki packages around, and offering a long list of features and plugins. If you are a member of one of those groups that need to document everything then setting up a wiki will prove to be a very valuable resource. You've got more than a few alternatives if Dokuwiki doesn't appeal to you. Other open-source wiki solutions include MediaWiki, PhpWiki, PMwiki and the popular TikiWiki.
Commercial Weekend Warrior
If you've got the weekend and some extra funds to burn through here's a brief list of website clones that you should also check out.
webJobs is a Monster/CareerBuilder clone selling for $199 that would be a perfect addition to any community where jobs can be seen as a commodity. The best features of the platform include SEO friendliness of URLs, Twitter integration, advanced billing, iPhone compatibility and syndication of your listings on sites like SimplyHired, Oodle, and Indeed.
ClipShare is a very powerful video script perfect for small online communities. The latest version offers a multi-language system, the ability to embed videos from other sites, an internal messaging system, video, groups, channels, friends and loads of administrative options for $199. Worth the investment if yours is the type of audience that consume or would consume lots of video.
