[RESOLVED] How hard is it to create automatically generated webpage?

@narutodude000Apr 26.2010

Is it hard to create a script like eBay or Youtube that automatically generates pages based on the information that an user submitted.
Can someone give me a brief introduction to such a script or a link?

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Full-stack Developer

14 Comments(s) _↴

@chestertbApr 27.2010 — #Woo.

How long have you got?

Hmmm... let's see... you need years of software design experience, years of language training, and understanding of client/server design principles, and a team of, let's say 10 really productive people.

10? That's conservative, because in web world, if you think of it today, you'd beter have it out there tomorrow because the day after that, it's obsolete. So you'd need:
[LIST]

[*]a programmer who's a whiz in CSS

[*]another who's brilliant in javascript

[*]a third who's exceptional in php (or some other server side language)

[*]one who's great at SQL design

[*]a user interface specialist (because how the user relates to your site is unbelievable important)

[*]a graphic artist/designer to create the look and feel

[*]a tester to make sure it all works

[*]a project manager to design it and then bring it all together (that's probably you, but to do that properly, you really need to know your stuff and be fluent in all of the above disciplines)

[*]an office manager to make sure the team has all the facilities and amenities it needs

[*]and someone else hanging around to make sure there's a continuously flowing supply of coffee, coca-cola and doughnuts.

[/LIST]
You could lose the last two if you run a virtual office, but in a project like this, having all the players in the same room delivers huge productivity advantages.

Let's look at YouTube and eBay, which are "created" by carefully designed server side scripts written in languages like php, ASP and others. The sites would be driven by a suite of scripts that would run to hundreds of thousands of lines of code. They are written for a specific purpose, with each user action tightly controlled and planned.

As a starting point, I suspect what you're talking about is a "Content Management System" or CMS. There are plenty of these (do a search) out there that you can install for free. Each has its good points and bad points, and, depending on your skill level, most are customisable.

Perhaps a good starting point for you is Wordpress, which is written in html, css, javascript and php.

If you want to do something at a core level, then there are web application builders that write the code for you. Take a look at WebDEV which, while expensive, appears to be a reasonable Rapid Application Developer or RAD. Do a search for 'web rapid application development' and you'll find a lot more.

So... how hard is it? Like I said... how long have you got?

I hope this helps.

CTB

@donatelloApr 27.2010 — #Learn Drupal.

@narutodude000authorApr 28.2010 — #Thanks for the long :eek: explantation.

I searched up Content Management System. It's exactly what I what to make but I think you're making it sound harder than it actually is. All I need to do is:

1. Make a database.

2. Create a script that saves user-submitted data in the database.

3. Create a script that gets data from the database and displays it on my website.

I'll research more on the subject.

@Jarrod1937Apr 28.2010 — #Thanks for the long :eek: explantation.

I searched up Content Management System. It's exactly what I what to make but I think you're making it sound harder than it actually is. All I need to do is:

1. Make a database.

2. Create a script that saves user-submitted data in the database.

3. Create a script that gets data from the database and displays it on my website.

I'll research more on the subject.[/QUOTE]
Haha, thats like saying to build a rocket to launch a satillite into space you need to:

1.) Build the rocket body.

2.) Buy the fuel.

3.) Launch it!

... but anyway.

You'll want to do the steps you just stated, while keeping in mind usability, standards, speed, protection from xss, protection from sql injection, build a logical and scalable database and code structure. If its then going to be a complex cms, like one for a shop, you'll also want to protect yourself from session security flaws like session fixation too. And this is just the outlining of the project, you'll spend a ton more time with the specifics than you realize.

My advice would be to start with an existing cms and build off of it... that is unless you have a bit of spare time to do it right.

@donatelloApr 28.2010 — #Haha, thats like saying to build a rocket to launch a satillite into space you need to:

1.) Build the rocket body.

2.) Buy the fuel.

3.) Launch it!

... but anyway.

You'll want to do the steps you just stated, while keeping in mind usability, standards, speed, protection from xss, protection from sql injection, build a logical and scalable database and code structure. If its then going to be a complex cms, like one for a shop, you'll also want to protect yourself from session security flaws like session fixation too. And this is just the outlining of the project, you'll spend a ton more time with the specifics than you realize.

My advice would be to start with an existing cms and build off of it... that is unless you have a bit of spare time to do it right.[/QUOTE]

LOL

Everything is easy!

Just like playing the guitar!

Just press on the strings with your left hand and move your right hand up and down!

@narutodude000authorApr 28.2010 — #Lol sorry.

I plan on using a MySQL database. But where are databases saved?

@Jarrod1937Apr 28.2010 — #LOL

Everything is easy!

Just like playing the guitar!

Just press on the strings with your left hand and move your right hand up and down![/QUOTE]
Exactly ?

Everything is simple if you throw out of the details...

Lol sorry.

I plan on using a MySQL database. But where are databases saved?[/QUOTE]
Each database normally sits in its own sub directory within a data folder... However, if you have everything setup correctly you should be abstracted from this anyhow. Mysql abstracts the database internals to where you simply need to connect to the database and then issue a sql command.

@narutodude000authorApr 28.2010 — #Sorry but I don't get any of that (sounds like gibberish to me ?). I'm using a web hosting plan (don't have my own server). Do I create a database file and upload it to my website?

@Jarrod1937Apr 28.2010 — #Sorry but I don't get any of that (sounds like gibberish to me ?). I'm using a web hosting plan (don't have my own server). Do I create a database file and upload it to my website?[/QUOTE]
What server side language are you planning on using?

@criterion9Apr 28.2010 — #Sorry but I don't get any of that (sounds like gibberish to me ?). I'm using a web hosting plan (don't have my own server). Do I create a database file and upload it to my website?[/QUOTE]

Generally your host will provide phpmyadmin or some alternative GUI for the DB server. Usually you design your database structure in a testing environment and then either create a script to create the tables if they don't already exist, or you use the GUI to build the structure.

You might want to look through some tutorials for MySQL and see where that leads you.

@narutodude000authorApr 28.2010 — #Never mind, I got it.

@chestertbApr 28.2010 — #Narutodude, we didn't mean to discourage you. I just know from bitter experience how hard it is to do this from scratch on your own (whoosh... there went 5 years of my life I'll never get back!).

However, it's a double edged sword. I set off on a path to write something myself because my understanding of php was nowhere near where it needed to be to understand and modify someone elses script. Really, I had no choice. I needed to put myself through the learning curve. I will tell you that I look back at what I've written, and while it's a great effort (for an amateur), and has shopping, point of sale, forums, news, mail... everything we needed to run my other businesses... it's now reached a point where it's held together with duct tape and string and all needs to be redesigned and written properly.

Ah well. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I hope your take-out from this is that the job is bigger than you think it is, and that there's more to learn than you can see right now. If you understand that and are prepared for the hard work, go knock yourself out because it can be quite rewarding. And when you get stuck, people here will help you as they helped me (thanks all).

However, if you want to keep your life simple, Drupal, Wordpress or any of the other "free" packages will give you your weekends and nights back, save your social life, and deliver (nearly) everything you can probably think of right now.

Oh... one last thought... if you're on shared hosting, the chances are your hosting provider has one of the above or something similar pre-installed and ready to go. Ask them the question.

Good Luck

CTB

@narutodude000authorApr 28.2010 — #I wasn't discouraged (thanks for being considerate), I was just feeling kind of guilty because you guys are helping me so much but I didn't help anyone else on the forums (yet). What I meant by "I got it" is that my old website host (webs.com) doesn't support MySQL and PHP, so I was really confused. I found a new free website host that supports MySQL, and now I writing my first PHP. However, I have a new problem here: https://webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228805

Thanks again

@narutodude000authorApr 29.2010 — #I completed all 3 of my steps (it was actually easier than I thought and way easier than what you guys said ?)

Now [I]all[/I] I need to do is combine it with HTML.