Where do I start?

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rockstar_tom
Forum Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:15 am

Where do I start?

Post by rockstar_tom »

Hello,

I'm a PHP beginner, pretty good with html and Flash actionscript and want to get stuck in to backend stuff. I have designed this website http://www.laceytheatrecompany.com and want to use it as a first project to try out some backend stuff.

The NEWS and TOUR sections are to be updated by a client (a single user, given access by myself). The NEWS and TOUR pages contain the entire list of entries. On the HOME page, the NEWS and TOUR boxes display only the latest 2/3 entries. The NEWS page will also have an anchored menu at the top to each news entry.

I am very keen to become a good PHPer. If anyone could take a quick look at the site and then point me in the right direction to get started, templates/tutorials/any words of advice it would be much appreciated.

Cheers
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califdon
Jack of Zircons
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Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:30 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by califdon »

Welcome to the world of server scripting. Your knowledge of HTML will be of great value. You probably want to check into CMS (Content Management Systems), which is a whole world of its own (and one I'm not well acquainted with).

As for basic PHP, where you should start depends largely on your individual learning style. For many people, finding a good book on basic PHP would be the place to start--there are so many books on PHP that I wouldn't try to recommend one or two "best" ones. My advice is to look at the Table of Contents to see the scope, then at a chapter or two to see how the presentation comes across to you. For others, online tutorials can get you started quickly. One of my favorites is http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp, another is http://us.php.net/tut.php. Lots more can be found by googling for php tutorial.

When you have specific questions or problems, this DevNetwork Forums is a good resource.
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Luke
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Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 1:53 pm
Location: Paradise, CA

Post by Luke »

This is kind of irrelevant, but what's the deal with the blue background color on the homepage? It makes it look like the text is highlighted. When I went there the first thing I did was try and un-highlight the text only to realize it is in the design. Strange.
kostyai
Forum Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:57 pm

Post by kostyai »

I'd recommend to use smarty as the template engine, smarty.php.net, to separate business logic from design.
use CSS much more to style your pages.
use DIV tags instead of tables.
install development toolbars to debug your code.
support all popular browsers.
josa
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Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 4:58 am
Location: Sweden

Post by josa »

There are quite a few content management systems out there that have the features you need and more. I guess a full blown CMS is a bit more than you require for this project and it will probably take some time to theme the CMS to make it look like the current design. But once it's done you have very powerful platform to continue develop the site on. http://www.opensourcecms.com/.

Your second option is to use bits and pieces of existing php code to piece together a light weight CMS to fit your site. You need some kind of authentication system (maybe a simple htaccess/htpasswd solution would suffice). Then you need a browser-based wysiwyg editor for the news and tour info, or you may settle for a simple form with plain text fields. Last but not least you need somewhere to store the data. MySQL or PostgreSQL is two popular choices, but for a simple site with few edits a flat text file would also work.

Your third option would be to write all of the above from scratch. This obviously requires more work, but can be very educational. I guess time is the deciding factor here (as always).

/josa
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