Using Muse to pull in database information...

[teiganreamsbottom]

I'm absolutely loving Adobe Muse so far! I'm more creative-brained and am not as good with coding as I probably should be. I'm preparing a presentation as to why my company should let me use Adobe Muse to re-create and re-imagine our website. I'm going to have to fight pretty hard for it though and have some solid facts behind me to re-assure our IT department.

On our existing website, some of our data and content is pulled in from a database. We're a home builder, so things like pricing, inventory, etc are updated from a database, which employees can access and modify on a back-end program. How possible will it be to pull this data into our page using Adobe Muse and will it be difficult to integrate?

Thanks to anybody who's able to help me out. Maybe somebody has some other suggestions as to what I can add to my presentation to help sell my use of this software to my IT department?

[Abhishek_Maurya · Accepted solution]

Hi,

In order for you to connect your database to the web site you need a server side coding language like php and php enabled server. Once you have that, you can insert the php code in you web pages using the Insert HTML option under the Object Menu. The codes when called from the server will execute first and then give you the data on the live site. The only thing is that the data that is extracted from the server on real time basis will not be styled within Muse and for that you will have to write your CSS. You can also define your CSS in the .css file and upload it on the server and add a reference to the file on the web page by going in to the Page Properties -> Metadata.

Let me know if you need more clarification.

Regards,

Abhishek Maurya

[teiganreamsbottom]

Abhishek,

I think I've got a good grasp on it. I'm going to be testing this out in the coming weeks. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The more I use this software, the more I'm understanding how brilliant of a program it is. For something that should be complex... this is making sense to me.

Thanks for the explanation. It's greatly appreciated!

Teigan

[Guest]

Abhishek -

Thank you for the information, but how does that actually work?  In order to pull data into any system, then must be some connection to said data system.  If the connection is in PHP, then how is that used by Muse?  Does it have some kind of native driver?  I understand how PHP pulls the data, but how does it get into Muse and how does modified data by the Muse site get back out to the database again?

[Abhishek_Maurya]

Hi Robert,

The data that you pull from the system in connected to the php code that you insert in your pages. It is not connected in any way to Muse, Muse is not capable of connecting to your database directly. So, the code that you write will control the data that gets pulled from the server.

[geoff123]

Hi Abhishek Maurya,

This sounds like something I am trying to do.

My client wants to have one counter that counts members(logged in folk) currently online, and also another counter that counts guests(non-members) currently online. Are there such widgets/counters?

I have designed the site in Muse and I am using the WebMarketing package from business catalyst.

Is there away to use the webstats to put visible counters on the index page for members as well as guests online.

Login page is http://aom002.businesscatalyst.com/home.html

I would like these stats to appear on the index page

http://aom002.businesscatalyst.com

I think the questions are:- is there code - possibly php that I can put on the BC server, where can this be put, what code to I put on the Muse page???

Any help would be great. Even a recommendation as to who might be able to do it.

ciao

Cathy

[Abhishek_Maurya]

Hi Cathy,

This is not possible in Muse out of the box. I will recommend that you post this on the ideas section so that our development team can look into integrating this in Muse, out of the box, Ideas for features in Adobe Muse

Since you are hosting the site on business catalyst, you will not be able to use PHP code because business catalyst does not support that.

What you can do in business catalyst is, use web apps with custom javascript to implement this counter. The approach can be something like create a web app and write a custom JS which submits to the a web app item's field an increment trigger and use the same field to display the counter on the home page.

- Abhishek Maurya

[geoff123]

Thank you Abhishek,

I don't think the web marketing package I have lets you develop web apps. Which is weird. I am using BC for a game application and not a shopping or buy online program so excluding webpps front eh WEBmarketing package is unhelpful.

Do you know anyone who would be interested in developing this kind of thing - I imagine once developed i could come in as a module thingy.

Thanks for you help I will investigate further along this track.

ciao

Cathy

[Abhishek_Maurya]

Hi Cathy,

I understand your concern, however, at this stage the web apps are only available in webCommerce plan, so in order to be able to use them you need to be on the right plan.

To know more on the implementer's list, who can help you in developing your site, I will recommend that you contact the support team and request the list and they shall be able to locate one in your area. To contact the support team click on help and support on the top right of your admin panel of the Bc site.

- Abhishek Maurya

[AdamLittleOil]

I like your site Cathy, love seeing actual projects in action done through Muse! To anyone else out there looking to add a database into their muse site, I use a DB program called Caspio (which is an awesome tool for non coders!). It allows you to embed code for every aspect of your app or database..

[nickyj]

Can one include php code in a Muse page? Isn't Muse just HTML?

Nick

[nickyj]

Just found an answer which I have not tried at the following URL: Coding Tutorials for Adobe Muse and Other Programs this involves editing the .htaccess file on your server.

[volcanoes2001]

Hi Teigan,

just read through this post and curious about how was your flight with ur IT department? Did you persuave them using MUSE instead?

Vok

[Ahoo110]

I would really like to see an example on a database driven muse site. Anything, even a small example would do.

Please advice.

[volcanoes2001]

muse has no such feature yet...or never

[Ahoo110]

I know MUSE doesn't have a fix panel to do this, I am more concern about the approches that was indicated in posts before. I woud like to see some php that was build and imported to MUSE.

No negative respond please, I know there is a work around, Please respond if you have an answer that can help out on this issue. (Thanks )

[UssNorway]

Muse is not a replacement for Dreamweaver (the software I'd use for database integration) but a supplement program for designers to build their site vision… the artie fartie stuff is what it is for.

You can have an add that says click here for 50% off and quickly change that to say 60% or any other amount but its just text or you can insert say a map from google maps which is technically a database but again, this is the exception and only works because google maps have been set up to allow this integration without major issues.

I'd recommend this http://www.adobe.com/inspire/2013/10/wordpress-sites-dreamweaver.html example of setting up a webpage because it shows the steps involved. Ie, the art team makes the basic design then the code team comes along and fine tunes the adds… the fact that this guy in effect does both steps does not make the process any less valid.

One final point, Muse is not (yet) a stand alone product… just look at all the bugs/ issues people on this forum are having… It's a useful tool and imo a solid step in the right direction but your it department will be unimpressed by any "lets get rid of Dreamweaver, and use Muse instead" argument.

[johnorjias]

Here is what I have been starting to do with php in muse so that I can just publish the site directly from muse and no editing of the html after that.

Coding Tutorials for Adobe Muse and Other Programs

[emememm96459414]

hi there can anybody show me how  to link  different head lines to a single page so that when one of the link is clicked , the page opens with the detailed information and if another link is clicked ,the same page opens with its detailed information also

[AdamLittleOil]

Ememm

Have you thought of using iframes and then displaying whatever page you want from the link? You also might look into the composition widget, not clear what you are looking to do.