I have restarted the project in PHP. After much muddling about looking for the right solution, I have decided to implement the system in PHP.
Perhaps down the road we may convert to .NET or a more 'robust' solution, but the bottom line is the PHP and decent development tools for it are free, and already run on the web servers that I use for conventions. (And indeed run for free on most hosting companies out there).
So we are going full steam ahead with a PHP/MySQL implementation. Again, someday we may port it again, but it is relatively urgent with the deterioration of the 4D version to get something actually finished, and I have made much faster progress in PHP than anything else.
I welcome feedback, help, etc.
Thanks!
Tim White
Project Lead