dynamic website help

Report · Dec 03, 2007

hello! i am new to most of this dynamic site creation. i have dreamweaver cs3 and the developer toolbox. i have read many books on mysql and php and all about databases. i am trying to create a database driven site. i am just confused on the things i read as for IIS, php and all the things you have to do to make it work. i am connecting to a server through my web host and i am able to connect to the databases and so on, but when i try testing my stuff it brings up an error, do you have to install the IIS along with being on another server? i am also confused on which is the best way to build the forms and and datasets, one says spry and ajax and then the developer toolbox, can someone just point me in the right direction? i think i have read so much stuff that i am now confusing myself. any help would be greatly appreciated!

Report · Dec 03, 2007

> hello! i am new to most of this dynamic site creation. i have
> dreamweaver cs3
> and the developer toolbox. i have read many books on mysql and php and
> all
> about databases. i am trying to create a database driven site. i am just
> confused on the things i read as for IIS, php and all the things you have
> to do
> to make it work.

Easiest way IMHO is to download http://www.wampserver.com
It comes with PHP, MySQL, Apache server, PHPMyAdmin and
MySQL lite. Installs everything for you. done.

i am connecting to a server through my web host and i am able
> to connect to the databases and so on, but when i try testing my stuff it
> brings up an error, do you have to install the IIS along with being on
> another
> server?

No. You can use the wamp server. You do have to have PHP and MySQL
installed in order to test on your own computer and that's the beauty of
Wamp.

Report · Dec 03, 2007

awesome! thank you so much. i have a few more questions i am stumped on as well and this is probably nothing to you but.... with the databases lets say you want to look up someone by county and and the info will come up as well. my question is do you have to create a page for each county that would be looked up and displayed from the database? or is there some shortcut to it? second question is... i am creating a forum for each person that is stored, when others look it up and want to reply to it there will be a small fee to reply to the forum, how do you manage this if it is displayed when they click on the reply button? and with this would i be better off building a blog for it or forum?

Report · Dec 03, 2007

> my question is do you have to create a page for each county that would be
> looked up and displayed from the database? or is there some shortcut to
> it?

No, you would put all the countries in a column called "country". Your query
would be what calls the country based on a criteria you set (such as all
countries that begin with A) and the results will show on the results.

> second question is... i am creating a forum for each person that is
> stored,
> when others look it up and want to reply to it there will be a small fee
> to
> reply to the forum, how do you manage this if it is displayed when they
> click
> on the reply button?

Well there could be a myriad of ways to accomplish this depending on exactly
what you wanted to do. For example you could show just the number of results
that meet the criteria ("there are 5 results") but not show the results
until they paid,
or you could show a portion of the results such as name or ID - they pay and
get the full information. OR you could just charge a membership fee for
access and then not
charge for getting results.

and with this would i be better off building a blog for
> it or forum?

Don't know how you would charge for a blog or exactly what information you
would be charging for. You "could" charge for access to a forum. Guess we
probably need to hear a lot more about what you are really trying to do.
Why do I get the idea it's a dating site? Is this something you really
should be tackling at this point in your learning?

Report · Dec 04, 2007

haha no its not a dating site trust me. it is more for businesses and contractors.... i know it may be a lot to learn but im determined and can learn quick just need someone to point me in the right direction with a few things as you have helped already... ok so lets say im just going to have the forums filed by names, should i put the forums under their info in the database or put a completely separate table for the forums and have the cust_id listed in the table as a foreign key? I understand mostly of what to do with most of it, its just those few little things i get stumped on or think about too much. i see how they have things to create blogs or forums but i need to be able to store it under a persons name like i said and it not be just one big long one that i update and that is all i seem to find info on.... i also got the wamp like you mentioned everything installed great but for some reason it wont let me go into the phpadmin, but it will let me go into the mysqllite. is there something i skipped??

Report · Dec 04, 2007

>... ok so lets say im just going to have the forums
> filed by names, should i put the forums under their info in the database
> or put
> a completely separate table for the forums and have the cust_id listed in
> the
> table as a foreign key?

I would handle them as separate tables with a foreign key.
That doesn't mean it's the "right" way.

>i also got the wamp like you
> mentioned everything installed great but for some reason it wont let me go
> into
> the phpadmin, but it will let me go into the mysqllite. is there
> something i
> skipped??

Not that I'm aware of. What happens when you go to:
http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

I see they have a Wamp 2 out now, I'm on Wamp 1.6.1
You might read on the wamp forum for tips:
http://wampserver.com/phorum/list.php?2

Report · Dec 04, 2007

Here's your answer on the PHPMyAdmin Problem:
http://www.wampserver.com/phorum/read.php?2,28005

Report · Dec 09, 2007

ah thank you! got it all worked out.....

ok so here is what i am scratching my head about.... with setting up what data you want to display using the recordsets, do you have to set a page up for each trigger? let me explain, if someone wants to look up information on a person located in a county, do you have to set up a page for each county to pull up the records or is there a certain way to set it up on one page where no matter what county they select from that state it will pull up what they are looking for?

Report · Dec 11, 2007

Use a form variable to filter the query on the same page.

Glenn

Report · Dec 18, 2007

form variable? for some reason i am drawing a blank on this, could you elaborate a little?

i am also working with developer toolbox, it seems to do all the coding for you, am i right? i can create the forms and do the recordsets with this without worrying about all the detailed data?

thanks