I have a basic understanding of programming languages. Grew up on BASIC - experience with some C, javascript, Visual Basic - but am not well versed in any of them, usually write with a book in lap.

I've never worked with databases - and my next project is going to be database heavy.

www.greenwatermelon.com is a mock up of the project. It's a few simple pages - no graphics - that explain what I'm trying to do. You can navigate through the "Start Crazy Course" and "Open Crazy Course," both are important - but there is nothing past the "Browse Crazy Projects" link so no need to click it.

Could you tell me if what I'm trying to undertake is too complicated for a novice programmer. Would I be better off hiring a programmer to do it for me? And how much do you think a project like this might charge?

Thanks tons,
Stephen Dean

By the way - I plan on coding it in PHP with the help of Mysql

Go for it and have fun. You will probably need some scripts for logging into projects (if that is a concern) by the people who created them. But there are scripts for you to copy from out there to handle it.

It does not seem to be a difficult task from what I saw of it so far. A good starter project.

There's no better way to learn a new programming language than to build something using it. You can read all the books you want, but until you jump in get your hands dirty, you'll never know what you're capable of.