Advice needed in structuring site

PHP programming forum. Ask questions or help people concerning PHP code. Don't understand a function? Need help implementing a class? Don't understand a class? Here is where to ask. Remember to do your homework!

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
mykg4orce
Forum Newbie
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 2:19 pm

Advice needed in structuring site

Post by mykg4orce »

ok i wanna figure out the best way to automate or administer a Online News site. This site is a online magazine that is released every month in print. And I have to maintain a electronic version of it. Now the previous webmaster had no programming experience and so they had to basically do the whole site again every month. But since i know PHP i wanna set up a database, etc. But I can't quite get my head around how to organize it. Can you toss some tips?

http://www.atinitonews.com/

Thats the existing site.

And if you know of any other sites that are similar done in php or even some tutorials i could use as guides.

:)

Thanks
User avatar
musashi
Forum Commoner
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 12:51 pm
Location: Santa Cruz - CA

Site Structures

Post by musashi »

There are MANY theories on how to handle this... and to be honest, your own experience will be the only true guide for which to do in any given situation.

As to how I generally approach this type of request (a database driven site with content management) I believe there are several key elements.
  • 1. Template Based Public Section
    2. Administration Section (for content management)
    3. Normalized Database Design
In your case, depending on whether you need archiving or not, you will need to be careful of your DB design. All of your articles, ads, images, etc. can fill things up and slow things down fairly quickly (matter of months, or years depending on your design and the amount of content you wish to store).

Your templates should contain a simple element that you can parse out using reg-exp searches. The element should provide enough information for your parser to retrieve (or at least select from a preselected set of data) the correct data being sought. Thus, if you have everything tagged by an id, your element that you parse could be something as simple as #123112# That is easy enough to search for.

Finally you need an Administration section that will provide you, or who ever will manage the site, a simple form-based interface to the content on the site. Depending on the needs of the system, this could include the ability to lookup historical issues and alter text, backup information, import, or upload graphics, etc. You decide based on your needs. The main thing this area will do is provide a way to enter the content into the db, safely (meaning you insure the integrity of the data rather than just tell them to type it into the console... or whatever GUI you are using).

That is generally the basics. Things like security, access levels, hidden and published pages, rotating ad graphics, etc. are all extras and can be talked about later.

Good luck!
mykg4orce
Forum Newbie
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 2:19 pm

Post by mykg4orce »

hey, thanks a lot for thoughts on this, i was considering some of the same things and brainstorming similar ideas.

thanks again
Post Reply