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Can PHP do this?

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Dec 19.2006

I’m trying to develop a new content delivery structure, to deliver sets of related information (like something you would go to a museum to learn about)
It is too complex to try to explain in the post, so i’ve created a webpage, and a flow diagram.

[url]http://stemler.org/stemler/Development/Development.html[/url]

I’m trying to determine the best way to accomplish this concept. Currently I’m thinking HTML, PHP, XML and RSS.

If you have other ideas please share.
I’m open to any reactions you may have, Ideas for the code structure (which languages, how intergrated), or any other help getting this stared.

I have a specific project in mind, But I’d like to develop the content delivery structure in general terms, as I believe it could be used in many projects.

take a look at what I have got so far.

[url]http://stemler.org/stemler/Development/Development.html[/url]

Thanks.

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PHP

6 Comments(s) ↴

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@sneakyimpDec 20.2006 — the link timed out.
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@gregstemlerauthorDec 20.2006 — Thanks, I just called my hosting company, and they explaided that they were refreshing and sync ing the server (?), but it will be back up in 5 minutes.

In fact it's working now!
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@sneakyimpDec 20.2006 — honestly, i didn't read your link in detail, but it sounds to me like you need to start thinking about a relational database like MySQL.

You can define a table to describe each data type you are think of.

For instance, a table for pages

a table for paragraphs

and then you connect a number of paragraphs to whatever page they correspond to.

another possibility is

a table for page categories

or even

a table for categories that can contain either categories or pages
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@gregstemlerauthorDec 21.2006 — Thanks sneakyimp.

Let me see if i understand...

using MySQL, I could create several tables.

(names of fields listed)

table1: which Content Groups to display for each catergory

catergory ContentGroup1 ContentGroup2 ContentGroup3

table2: elements of each ContentGroup

ContentGroup element1 element2 element3

table3: pieces of each element

element title summary body link_to_additional_info


Then, Can I write a script to insert the pieces according to a template to get the layout I want??

do i use PHP to assymbol the pieces?
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@sneakyimpDec 21.2006 — that sounds about right. if you need to assign an element to more than one Content Group you can do something like 3 tables

<i>
</i>table 1 - ContentGroup
cg_id
name
other fieds....

table 2 - Element
element_id
name
other fields....

table 3 - ContentGroup_Element_Connect
id
cg_id
element_id


If, on the other hand, any given element is only assigned to one ContentGroup, you can skip the third table and just put a cg_id field directly in the Element table.

The queries can be a bit confusing when you start designing your pages but you'll be surprised how flexible sql is.

PHP is good for doing this kind of thing and can do all you need but don't underestimate the task of designing the right database. If you do your tables right, your code will be simpler and you do exactly what you want. Design them wrong and you'll be running extra queries or be hamstrung, unable to do that one extra thing.

If you pick the right hosting provider, they will have PHP and MySQL (or some other DB engine installed) and there will be some kind of admin tool for the database. phpMyAdmin is the one I use most often and it's really helpful for importing data, designing tables, and finding out what is slow.
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@gregstemlerauthorDec 22.2006 — OK, great! Thanks again Sneaky.

I use MS Access quite a bit at work, so I understand the DB part of the organization and enough about building a query to get started.

Can you give me any direction on how to get started using php to design the page layout.

Or, do I use html for that, and php to populate "fields" within the webpage??

I'm totally new to php, so I just looking for the [B]general overview[/B] of the process (not a coding example), or a link to a recommened info/tutorial site.
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