@SpiffyJauthorNov 19.2006 — #Well it's for a friends website that I may be developing but if I have it may way i'll be able to use php and have a free MySql database. Note, this will be my first time using a database so there's a big learning curve.
@launchpad67aNov 20.2006 — #What is the goal of this comment form?
Are you wanting to store these comments for public viewing? Do you want these comments to be mailed to the site administrator? How many comments do you want displayed if they are available for public viewing?
These are just a few things to think about.
There a number of ways to do this, from simple to complex!
*You could do it easily with a php script and a simple .txt file. Then display the results in a scrolling text box on your site.
*Or, you could actually store the entries in a database, then retrieve and display them.
*Or, you could treat it like an email form, and just email the comments to the site admin.
Here's a simple Flash+Php+Txt comment form I designed a few years ago.
@SpiffyJauthorNov 20.2006 — #Well it looks like it needs to be more complex than I wanted to make it. There needs to be an area where people can search previously submitted comments. Email notification of new posts to admin and users, the option to approve posts before they are listed, automatically delete undesireable words. So, I guess now he wants something very complex, maybe more complex than I can handle.
@launchpad67aNov 20.2006 — #See, now that is a complex application you need.
It can all be done but if you are new to php and mysql it will be a huge learning curve.
Is your friends site already built? If not, would you be opposed to using something like Joomla to design it? It's a CMS application that will allow you to do all these things you need, and much more. Very powerful, free cms application.