I chose Dolphin because it has a free 'trial' - it allowed me to actually download and use the code to test to see if it was suitable for my site - many of the competitors do not offer this. It offered a workable base on which to build my site. I actually managed to set up the site - modify the templates and see how it all worked before going live - a great help.

I actually tried it a few years back and decided against using it then as it wasn't up to scratch - I had a lot of problems with it. see more This time around it was easier to get up and running.

It still has some minor issues, but nothing that really detracts from being able to produce a workable site.

If you want to use it - my recommendations are as follows:

- Carefully check the requirements - you can get a basic Dolphin install up and running on most shared servers (photo / video hosting), but to use the video casting / RAY features you will need to look at utilising the RMS media server. This means either installing RMS on your web server (probably not feasible for most hosted accounts) or renting an RMS connection (I do this and it works fine). The webserver requirements are the single biggest problem for new installs - choose your host wisely and it will save you a lot of hassle - I'd also recommend doing a search as somewhere I remember seeing a free 7 day dolphin hosting trial - this would certainly remove some of the headaches.

- Pay some consideration to your projected userbase - a small / low volume site will work ok on a shared server but high traffic site will need larger bandwidth / webspace - might pay to consider a VPS or dedicated server which will also cater for running your own RMS.

- Many mods are not free - pay some consideration to what you want your site to do - you may need to purchase some mods to achieve it - this obviously has a $$$ value.

- Good support is also not free. If you want guaranteed fast support, consider that you may have to pay for the privilege. If you are happy to have a go and are not in a rush, then the Answers / Forums section here will be fine.

This may be trying to teach grandma to suck eggs - forgive me if this is stating the obvious.

HTH

DM