Disigning my website

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Berethorn
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Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:39 am
Location: The Frozen North

Disigning my website

Post by Berethorn »

I hope this is the right forum - I couldn't decide.

Ok, I have a website in the works. It's a Tolkien-information site. It has a pretty simple design. I have a very poor model online that I will present just so you get the idea:

http://www.landofrohan.com/index2.php

It's just a prototype now. ;)

I'm going to have some main sections (i.e. The Books, The Movies, Games, Media.) These will branch into sub-sections or pages. I'm going to have a lot of pages, so instead of doing it all manually I thought there might be a way to automate some aspects, so I can better control the links in the sub-sections. I looked into CMS, and tried out Mambo, but it really isn't what I want - it's too much like a portal.

I only know enough about PHP to use the "include" function, but I can learn. I do know enough about XHTML and CSS to work fluently (don't go by that link I posted!) and I've done major work on a VB template.

So my questions is this: What's the best way to make my site easier to work with? Perhaps using some PHP, or maybe finding another CMS, or just ignoring all that and do it the old way - manually?

I hope you can understand this! Thanks! :)
d3ad1ysp0rk
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Post by d3ad1ysp0rk »

If it's only you working on it. Use php for dynamic things (polls, forums, etc.. which you can find prebuilt scripts for), and just include the files that are used frequently (ads, header, footer, menu, etc..).

Good luck.

If you'd like to learn the language, php.net is a great resource if you understand the basics already, and if not, google has great tutorials if you search for "php tutorial". :)
DarkUnderlord
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Re: Disigning my website

Post by DarkUnderlord »

Berethorn wrote:www.landofrohan.com/index2.php

It's just a prototype now. ;)
It may be a poor model but it's better XHTML & CSS than I've been able to do yet! (I've only just started trying to create web standards compliant code.)
Berethorn wrote:I'm going to have some main sections (i.e. The Books, The Movies, Games, Media.) These will branch into sub-sections or pages.
Things like your JavaScript quote system can be done in PHP too. You'd have a page with a simple form on it. Type in your quote and hit submit. Your quote would then be available to be randomly selected out of the database to be displayed at the bottom. If you make a mistake, you make a page that lists all your current quotes and gives you the option to edit them, add more quotes or delete a few.

You could go more advanced and have the option to disable certain quotes so that they're kept in the database, but aren't chosen to be displayed until they're approved. This could allow you to open up the system to your forum users. Let them add their own quotes but don't allow those quotes to be displayed until you've approved them.
Berethorn wrote:I'm going to have a lot of pages, so instead of doing it all manually I thought there might be a way to automate some aspects, so I can better control the links in the sub-sections. I looked into CMS, and tried out Mambo, but it really isn't what I want - it's too much like a portal.
Look for a pre-built CMS might be a good option. Finding one that does what you want (even if it has some extra features that you don't need) can be a lot quicker and easier than struggling to build your own. It all depends on how much you want to learn PHP vs what time you have to learn it and build your site. If you can find what you want as a free download somewhere, there's little point in re-inventing the wheel. Especially when the system might have a bunch of other features that you could simply never build yourself.
Berethorn wrote:So my questions is this: What's the best way to make my site easier to work with? Perhaps using some PHP, or maybe finding another CMS, or just ignoring all that and do it the old way - manually?
I think it depends on how easy to manage you want your site to be. Many years ago (okay, so maybe it was a few months) I had a small site where to maintain consistency, I used simple .htm files which were included depending on a URL. This was so each page would have the same menu / header / footer etc... When I later moved to site which had a database driven system, I never went back to my old way again.

Don't underestimate the ability to pop onto your site, hit a special link, type directly into a text box, hit submit and have your news post / new link / game information / movie review / article / whatever appear on the right page, in the right order, with the right link to it. It beats downloading a htm file, editing it and uploading it again any day of the week.
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