Hello,
I had a problem with a similar question earlier because I think my
scope was too large.  Here is the situation: I am looking at website
developers for a new website that will consist of a chatroom, bulletin
board, pictures, classifieds, unique user ID, as well as a way for
people to sign up for things and pay for certain services.  The site
will change continuously with many calendars of events that would need
to be changed by several different administrators.  Each developer,
however, uses different methods for the development of the website and
each contends theirs is the best.  I'm specifically referring to ASP,
ASP.NET, PHP, and Coldfusion (or any others I might run across).  My
problem, and ultimately my question, is: what are the pros and cons of
each website server development tools (including cost,
how powerful each is, stability, expandability, etc) produced in
laymen's terms as well as which are most common out in the field today
and any unbiased
reviews out there.  As far as "cost" is concerned, please include the
assumed cost based on having to use certain types of servers
(microsoft vs linux).

Quick note: I've been told to look for sites I like and just talk to
that developer - my problem with that is that it would be similar to
buying a car because it looks pretty and not having any real idea of
how well it runs under the hood. Therefore, the answer to this
question should at least give me some "talking points" to raise
questions to the developers.

I appreciate any help you all could give!!

IN PAKISTAN THERE ARE SO MANY ORGANISATION DEVELOPING WEBSITE.HERE IS LINK OF
PAKISTAN SOFTWARE HOUSES ASSOCIATION www.pasha.org.pk. I HOPE YOU CAN GET HELP
FROM THE ASSOCIATION.
REGARDS
IJAZ AHMAD

Some basic terms. What you are looking for is a CMS (Content
Management System). A CMS is a software that runs on the server which
handles all the process of how your content (calendars, blogs, chats,
web pages etc.) is created, managed and presented.

There are many sites that review CMS software and discuss the benefits
and shortcomings of many packages. Their price ranges from FREE to
$500,000+ USD. It all depends on what you are trying to do.

My recommendation for you is to find a consultant that knows about
CMS, and the underlying technolgies to help guide you to the right
choice. If you are tech savvy, visit the CMS sites and read what is
said about the packages that peak your interest.

a good place to start is http://www.cmswire.com/ 
 
Regarding the platform, my choice is usually an opensource CMS package
that runs on non-exotic (Simple pc with linux) hardware. It is hard to
guage what you need from your message.

I currently recommend Drupal which is open source (GPL) and can run on
any linux box which has PHP & MYSQL or Postgres. It has all the
features you mentioned, a very active developement community, and well
thought structure.

Most CMS packages do require someone to setup all the modules and
customization you might need.

Regards,

Amanuel

First to answer your specific question, there is no right answer.  If
you ask this question of 100 different people, you'll probobally get
100 different answers.  There is no clear winner in the application
server space between any of the products that you mentioned.  By the
same token, there is no clear loser either.  If you have a *good*
developer that is comfortable with a product, then use this one.

The difference between hosting service cost is small.  Generally
speaking Unix hosting is the cheapest, followed by Windows hosting,
and ColdFusion (which runs on top of both Unix and Windows) is usually
a premium (extra cost) service, while ASP.NET, PHP, and ASP are free.

Do not use ASP.

A better question is how do you know if a developer is good?  Or
better yet, do I need a developer in the first place?

As a rule of thumb, you don't want to *develop* anything from scratch
if you can buy something that already does what you're looking for. 
Unless you have something very unique, and you want to be the very
first to market with this idea, there is no reason to *build it* when
you can just *buy it*  Trust me, which ever of these products you
choose, the cost of development will greatly outweight the cost of
hosting any of these.

Judging from the list of features you're looking for, I would consider
finding a web host that already offers these pre-built components
(i.e. calendards, guest books, ecommerece, etc.,) like www.1and1.com. 
Don't get sold on hiring a developer until you're sure that this is
what you truly need.  Unless you can afford to do so.  And/or you have
a good relationship with someone you trust.