Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

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Laximyrkcion
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Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by Laximyrkcion »

I am a leader of an online video-game clan, and I'm currently in the design process of a new dynamic site that is entirely based off of clan fundamentals. My current skill-set only involves HTML(my current work: http://dcdeadcell.com). I am hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction of what exactly I need to learn to produce my desired end-result.

Here's my current plan/design/idea:

At the initial load of the site, there would be a username/password prompt, a "non-registered user" link to a separate static site with basic information, and a register link. The first two are obvious standard links(I presume), but the third is clan-specific. Once a user clicks on the register link, I want it to ask a series of questions to determine the user's relation to the clan. For instance, it might say: [Are you signing up to join the clan? Are you a member of another clan? Are you not either?]. Each question would have its own link thus branching out to create three different types of users. Each type of user would see different information on the site, and each would be automatically signed up for an imbedded PHPBB board inside the site. That part is important to me because I would like the initial log in to be the only log in that a member would have to make to access the PHPBB boards, a chat room, etc.

Next, is that if you are a clan member, I want it so that every time a member logs into the site, any information that is new will "pop" out at them in some manner(it could be as simple as just having a flashing 'new' next to sections, etc). Lastly, clan-related rankings, stats(not game stats) and profiles would need to be controlled by a superuser(similar to how you can adjust things of the same nature in a PHPBB board), and reflect in their profile on the site all-together, not on just a message board.

Now...is this something that I can accomplish with PHP/MySQL? I am aware that something like this may take some major trial and error code work, and I'm ready to do that. I'm just trying to save myself some time and use the right tools to accomplish this. Oh, I host through Yahoo! which does have some PHP/MySQL restrictions, but I'm unclear as to whether or not those would affect what I'm trying to do.

I would appreciate anyone's help on this matter...and I would be glad to answer any questions, regardless of detail. Thank you again.

- Laximyrkcion
mickeyunderscore
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by mickeyunderscore »

That's a good looking site, must have taken some serious work!

You can accomplish this using PHP/MySQL yes, and you will find it less laborious to introduce new pages if you use PHP, as you can introduce a standard header/footer to every page which you can call from a function.

If you've never coded in PHP/MySQL before then this may be a bit complex as a first project though, I'd recommend starting off by writing some simple scripts to begin with (but still related to your goal). For example try making a simple registration form and validate it using PHP.

Sounds like you will a good grasp of flow control as well so get used to if statements and switches.

Try not to fall into the trap of trial and error coding (e.g. type some code, refresh, change it, refresh to see if it works).

The PHP manual at php.net is very useful, especially some of the user-contributed notes if you get stuck.
Laximyrkcion
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by Laximyrkcion »

Thanks for the compliment...it did take a while :wink:

It seems I guessed right about using PHP, and I will definitely take your advice about it. I have not looked at the PHP.net manual yet, but I did start looking at the tutorials at the W3 schools site. That's why I came here because I didn't really know if this is what I was looking for, but I am going to check the resources that you mentioned.

I am really glad I found this site though, I will definitely use it for reference and questions as well. Thank you for your help!
josh
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by josh »

Start getting friendly with the database, don't bother with storing stuff in text files.
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Skoalbasher
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by Skoalbasher »

Laximyrkcion wrote:I am really glad I found this site though, I will definitely use it for reference and questions as well. Thank you for your help!
That's funny, because since I've actually started looking around on here, I've actually done LESS work on what I came for originally and more work trying to learn new things. Which is great except I need to get my original project done. haha.
Laximyrkcion
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by Laximyrkcion »

josh wrote:Start getting friendly with the database, don't bother with storing stuff in text files.
I'll keep that in mind, thanks!
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Benjamin
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Re: Would PHP development be suitable for my intent?

Post by Benjamin »

Laximyrkcion wrote:I'll keep that in mind, thanks!
Here, keep it closer: http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-query.php

It's just a matter of time before you'll need to learn it.
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