

Ask HN: What do I need to learn to start an online magazine? - aprufrock

I've decided to explore the idea of starting an online magazine.  I'd like to be able to run it myself.  Most of my experience is in scientific computing, but I'm familiar with HTML, CSS, Javascript, C and Python.  I'm working on learning more about databases (currently taking the Stanford Class2Go on databases http://class2go.stanford.edu/db/Winter2013)<p>What else would you recommend I look into?
======
lutusp
> What else would you recommend I look into?

Content. You've described skills that could be used to put together a Website,
but there's no mention of your literary or journalistic abilities.

Nothing is easier than launching a Web-based magazine. Nothing is harder than
filling it with fresh daily content so people visit again and again.

~~~
aprufrock
I agree that content is key and I'm putting other resources into generating
that content. I'm not trying to do anything big or amazing; rather I'm trying
to create a place for my friends and I to exercise our creativity that's more
than just a blog. I'm an economist and will be converting a lot of what I
would put in my blog into essays and responses about current economic news. A
good friend of mine is already doing something similar for travel, and has
expressed interest in contributing. Same thing for sports. I have some friends
who are chefs that are interested in writing about food, and others who brew
their own beer.

Right now, I am (irrationally?) optimistic about content. This is as much
about my friends and I creating something as it is a serious attempt at
journalism or literature.

So, assuming that content is covered, would you expect the skills I mentioned
to be sufficient for building and running a site?

~~~
robotys
After content, next thing to focus should be operation. For online magazine it
should be editorials and technical.

I suggest going the wordpress route as the backend cms. It easy enough to
beginner and fast enough for growing audition. Thus you need a person good on
it to design and extend the functionality.

But still, good and enganging content always preceed technology. HN is a good
example of that.

------
minimaxir
Design.

