mack - 8:41 am on Jul 29, 2005 (gmt 0)

This is a very good question, and one I will try to answer as best I can. I am glad you have a good idea of what you want to acheive, very oftem people just start blindly and build a site with little of no direction. Good planning from the start is essential.

Is XHTML and CSS the way to go?

It is looking very much as if this will certainly be the future. One benefit being you do not dictate what the user should use to view your pages. A lot of hand helds for example now render xhtml very well. As for CSS again this is definatly going to play a very large part in the furure of the web. I say CSS is definatly the way to go, because in a couple of years it will be the standard.

Should the whole site be dynamically written in PHP? There will be several PHP components in it anyway.

This really all depends on your own experience and ability. To an extent it also depends on the overall size of the site. From an seo point of view using php or plain html/css will make no difference. Because of this it is importaint to look at from a maintainance point of view. What language will make the site easier to maintain. Very often this will be php because of the way various different elements are simply included. I know this can be done with ssi but php definatly appears to be the way to go with large scale sites.

Should I be looking at a content management system to make life easier? If so which?

A content management system can be a great investment if you plan to grow a very large site. In fact it can be great for a site of almost any size if you desire to alter pages in as simple a way as possible. A cms really comes into a class of it's own when you want to build a very large scale site. The features and ease of maintainance makea cms a very good choice.

opensourcecms.com might be a good place to have a look for a suitable application.

Is phpBB a good choice of forum software?

It is certainly one of the most popular, for this reason I would say a lot of people must like it. phpbb can also plug into a few of the cms systems currently available. Some use a cms bridge to share a member base between the forum app and the cms it's self. Others have a phpbb module.

Is Zencart a good choice of shopping cart software?

Again it's popularity says a lot, if an application is widely used then this is usualy for a reason. Personaly I haent used it (or any other eccomerce solution) so my comments are a little limited. Perhaps someone else will be able to voice their oppinions.

Should I kick off with a template or build the whole thing from scratch myself? If so then where is a reputable source of suitable templates?

I think the best option is to design your own template then use this design site-wide. I say this because that way you understand all the code, you knwo exactly how to use the template properly and you have very little chance of coming across another site using the same design. If you do choose to use a template then it may be worth having a deigner create a "one off" design for you. If you use a cms you should also set up the themes/templates of the cms to suit your needs.

Should I build the whole thing around a blog? If so where to start?

I would say never build a site around a blog, but rather, build a blog around your site. The main content areas can be within your site or cms, the blog can be used for less importaint information, or information of a lesser qualiy. A blog can also be very good for traffic if you allow sites to syndicate your articles.

Mack.