Looking for a good exercise in building a website

Question

I'd like to learn how to build a website, say using .Net (Monorail comes to mind). I'd like a pet project, something that:

• Will take a fair yet reasonble amount of time
• I can I can build on my own
• Will be actually cool or useful,
• Hasn't been done to death already (e.g. ... writing a blog engine is not what I'd consider as interesting, although it's technically challenging - it's been done to death and there are so many ready blog platforms today)

Any ideas, stackoverflow?

Answer 1

I'd say my answer would be the same as the one I gave to this previous SO question (albeit substitute .Net for PHP).

Answer 2

Have you considered offering your time to a local non-profit organization? You might review their existing mission, website, and other materials and approach them with an idea for something helpful that you could develop for free.

I find that if a project is "real" I'll put more effort into it than into a "toy" project on the side.

Answer 3

Hasn't been done to death already (e.g. ... writing a blog engine is not what I'd consider as interesting, although it's technically challenging - it's been done to death and there are so many ready blog platforms today)

If this is just a learning exercise, why do you care if its been done to death? More than that, it seems like a blog platform involves a lot of the fundamental skills you'd need to learn anyway to get up to speed on ASP.NET.

You could also try writing a:

• messageboard

• web-based source-control system.

• wiki engine

• SO clone

• Music/movie management system

• Input two celebrities A and A', output a list of movies where A appears B, B appears with C, C appears with D, D appears with A'. See also: Kevin Bacon.

• Start your own internet phenomenon. Lolcats, FML, NotAlwaysRight, GraphJam, Passive Agressive Notes, FSTDT, FailBlog, Sh*t Bricks, Keyboard Cat, and JapanWTF have already been done. Find a meme and run with it.

• Searchable online taxonomy of species

• Decentralized usernames (OpenID), avatars (Gravatar), status updates (Twitter), and currently playing music (Last.fm) have already been done. I predict the next big social network phenomenon will extend the phenomenon by decentralizing another staple of social-networking sites, probably a "current mood" or "signature" that follows you from site to site.

• photo gallery engine

• a website where people post great ideas for a website.