On Thursday, June 6, 2002, at 11:07 PM, Kevin J wrote:
> I am sure this isn't the best way to learn PhP, but I am running out of > ideas for making this website work. Static content just seems boring > these > days, so I would liek to "spice" up the site by having the band members > themselves contribute to the site, instead of me always doing it. > > It might bring people to the site more often, and make it more > interesting > for the band members. > > I just have to figure out whwre to start, thats all. Everything you want to do is covered in "Beginning PHP" (Wrox), which is tutorial in nature. This is for someone who is new to PHP, and new to coding in general. PHP is an excellent first language because it is easy to learn, and you can see immediate results in your new dynamic web pages. On the other hand if you already know how to program, you would probably be better served by an introduction to the language that is aimed at programmers, such as O'Reilly's new offering "Programming PHP" by Keven Tatroe and Rasmus Lerdorf (who started the PHP project). Managing the database will take another level of skill, so pick up Paul DuBois' "MySQL" (New Riders) which IMO is unmatched by any other reference on the topic. But don't expect to become an overnight wizard. There are a lot of security issues with which you will have to familiarize yourself, ranging from system/server security to the security of your code itself. If your site will be low-traffic, then I wouldn't worry too much, but if it is like N-Sync or something like that then I imagine there are tons of annoyed crackers out there who would happily try to break into the site to wreak damage. The one great thing about a totally static web site is that (at the coding level), there is no fear of security issues -- its simply a glorified text file. (The reason I say "at the coding level" is because server security is still an issue.) But don't get scared off with this warning... just go get started with programming in PHP, and you will eventually learn what you need to as you go. Just don't put it on the real site until you're sure it's done, so all your development locally or something. Erik PS: don't overwrite old stuff, you might want that someday. If a band member wants to post a commment, just let them insert a new record into the database and only return the most recent record for each band member. Archive the old data, perhaps when you are feeling adventurous you can offer a "read the archives" section of the site. ---- Erik Price Web Developer Temp Media Lab, H.H. Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
