First website ideas

ok, I learned HTML/XHTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript a while ago and I made a couple of websites. Then I got into C++ and gamedev and now I've forgotten a lot of the web based languages!!!

As a long term goal, I would like to start developing websites for business and the like but I need some experience of creating websites again so I can remember all the stuff I used to know.

So the point of this thread is for someone to give me an idea for a website that will test my abilities and I will end up with a website I can show to family, friends and others and will showcase my ablities. So if someone can give me an idea as to what it should be about (Hacking, Programming, whatever), what it should include (login, cookies, guestbook, etc) and what languages I should learn to help me out in general (ajax??, XML?? i also heard flex was good…) . Thanks for your help, Conor

[edit]On a side note, which is better/easier to use, Wampserver or Apache? What home hosting program would you reccomend? I'm not looking to host of it, just for learning about databases, re-learning PHP and general practice… Thanks again! [/edit]

I'd suggest apache, I think you should just make a semi-blog style website. Here's mine and the server I run it on.

Do you run linux? If so just install apache, mysql and php on there and there you go a somewhere to build your website and learn.

If you don't run linux but don't need your website on 24/7 then just dual boot and do your work in linux. Running your own server gives you a lot of options and is free!

And even if you don't want to touch linux! You can get apache php and mysql binaries for windows.

Sort of off topic.

But, wolfmankurd, your server set up is bad ass. I personally dont know if I would do such a thing, as it seems rather messy, its still awesome.

Yeah that's a sweet setup :D Makes me want to do the same, although I don't think my mom would be okay with me hauling gallons of oil into my bedroom B)

@OP I agree with wolf, building your own CMS would advertise all of those skills and look professional when showing it off.

Ok, so how exactly do you dual boot your computer??? I mightn't be able to because I'm not the admin/owner of this computer!!! (my dad's)

So to make a CMS, I'd need to know SQL/MySQL. How do you make a database??!?!? Sorry, I used to know a fair bit about web developing but I've forgotten it all!!!

From the small bit of google-ing I've done, the cheapest domains are .infos, yeah??? Is there any restrictions on that?? Thanks a lot everyone!!!

Jesus christ!!!!! Notmyfault, can you stop using so much punctuation?!?!?! Thanks!!!!

Okay, now that we've covered that. You sound unfamiliar with linux, and considering you only want it for web development you probably don't want to worry about other linux stuff so I'm going to go ahead and recommend ubuntu. Here is the ubuntu dual boot guide: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

Although you should double check with your dad, because there could be a issue over that, basically you are installing linux beside windows on the same harddrive.

I'm not sure which domains are the cheapest but there are no restrictions depending on which domain you buy.

stdio wrote: Sort of off topic. But, wolfmankurd, your server set up is bad ass. I personally dont know if I would do such a thing, as it seems rather messy, its still awesome.

stealth- wrote: Yeah that's a sweet setup :D Makes me want to do the same, although I don't think my mom would be okay with me hauling gallons of oil into my bedroom B)

Cheers guys, my solution was to not tell her until she noticed the blisters and greasy smells emanating from my bed room.

Anyways back on topic, as stealth says he may take issue with your doing that but using wubi which is terrifically easy to use, and it essentially installs ubuntu in a file on windows. :), but as moshbat would warn/threaten don't lrt it fool you into thinking ubuntu( or for that matter any linux) is in anyway anything to do with windows…

NotMyFault wrote: ok, I learned HTML/XHTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript a while ago and I made a couple of websites. Then I got into C++ and gamedev and now I've forgotten a lot of the web based languages!!!

www.w3schools.com will test you on the essentials of web languages.

The problem with W3schools is that once you've done the tests a few times, as the questions don't change, you learn from your mistakes. I becomes ineffective after a while.

@wolfmankurd: do you use Wubi? It looks really good, I'll read some more about it before I decide to install it. Does it come with apache?

NotMyFault wrote: The problem with W3schools is that once you've done the tests a few times, as the questions don't change, you learn from your mistakes. I becomes ineffective after a while.

@wolfmankurd: do you use Wubi? It looks really good, I'll read some more about it before I decide to install it. Does it come with apache?

It's just like linux, but it runs at the same time as windows. So yes, if you can have apache in ubuntu normally, you can have it in wubi :)

Wubi looks very good I have to say, I'll ask my dad (admin) to install it soon. People say that it gives them more freedom and stuff, how? I read as well that it has a steep learning curve. What's there to learn? Thanks for everyones quick responses. [edit]So Linux aside, For my website, I have a CMS and… Would a guestbook be good and in the CMS, would that include a login page, a new user with an email script and stuff like that? Thanks again. [/edit]

stealth- wrote: it runs at the same time as windows.

As my understanding is It doesn't run along side windows( if that were the case it'd have terribly bad performance the truth is far from that), what it does is create loopmounted filesystem inside a file on the windows filesystem. Then boots into that, this means you don't have to do anything dangerous like partitioning the hard drive. all you do is is make a large file and edit the boot.ini, well thats all that wubi does. Then you reboot and do the install form there.

NotMyFault wrote: Wubi looks very good I have to say, I'll ask my dad (admin) to install it soon. People say that it gives them more freedom and stuff, how? I read as well that it has a steep learning curve. What's there to learn? Thanks for everyones quick responses. [edit]So Linux aside, For my website, I have a CMS and… Would a guestbook be good and in the CMS, would that include a login page, a new user with an email script and stuff like that? Thanks again. [/edit]

Not wubi it's self. All wubi is is a ubuntu installer.

People always say there is a steep leanring curve but thats simply not true. My mum had xp a problem at least twice a day, she'd need me to install soemthign fix a driver… crashes…. virus… on ubuntu she never asks me for help. It is actually easier. She has no virus', no driver problems, no crashes… it just works ( unlike windows), granted I had to install it for her, but now with wubi anyone could do it.

The hard stuff using the command line (actually very simple) would be much harder if you tried the same on windows.

So the leanring curve is actually shallower, you just start much higher up on it, because you are learning more powerful techniques.

For the CMS, I'd say, start with making a userless system, then add comments, then users. This is only a suggestion because of the pitfalls of trying to do too much at once. Also, if this is your first cms chances are you'll finish the first part and be like wow, what I was doing is stupid, and what to start a fresh. On the other hand if you have a large project, spend hours on it and not have a working system you may get bored and give up.

So maybe, just a system for you to make posts, but this is really just a suggestion. You should make whatever you want, because after all thats who you are making it for!

what do you mean by a userless system then adding comments? This would all require some form of SQL yeah? What's the command line in Ubuntu, from what I've read I think it's like the command prompt in windows. Have I the right idea? Its not essential to Ubuntu anyways I don't think.

Also, how difficult would it be to create a customisable page for each user? Could I do that using a mix of PHP and JS?

NotMyFault wrote: what do you mean by a userless system then adding comments? This would all require some form of SQL yeah? What's the command line in Ubuntu, from what I've read I think it's like the command prompt in windows. Have I the right idea? Its not essential to Ubuntu anyways I don't think.

Also, how difficult would it be to create a customisable page for each user? Could I do that using a mix of PHP and JS?

No command line is not essential to ubuntu but is the only reason I could see people thinking linux is more difficult than windows( but you are 100% correct on most linux's you don't even need to touch the command line). It's like the windows one, but much richer and with much more powerful programs. You'll want to use it once you see what it can do.

This is how websites work( not all but lets say typically). Pages are in php, they are processed and produce output (usually html) which is sent out. The php scripts produce dynamic output and can get stuff by interfacing with a mysql database. Such as get the latest 10 news articles and make html where title in a given place and the body else where.

So when you go on hbh, apache running on hbh's fedora linux server reads the index.php file it has php process the file and then sends you the output. It's the php processing thats interesting.

You know I get the feeling you know less about making website then you let on.

wolfmankurd wrote: [quote]stealth- wrote: it runs at the same time as windows.

As my understanding is It doesn't run along side windows( if that were the case it'd have terribly bad performance the truth is far from that), what it does is create loopmounted filesystem inside a file on the windows filesystem. Then boots into that, this means you don't have to do anything dangerous like partitioning the hard drive. all you do is is make a large file and edit the boot.ini, well thats all that wubi does. Then you reboot and do the install form there.[/quote]

Oh, sorry about that. I thought it was more of a VM type thing. Guess I should shutup if I'm not sure what I'm talking about, lol.

No command line is not essential to ubuntu but is the only reason I could see people thinking linux is more difficult than windows( but you are 100% correct on most linux's you don't even need to touch the command line). It's like the windows one, but much richer and with much more powerful programs. You'll want to use it once you see what it can do.

Not true, at all. I can name many situations where the command line is imperative. One perfect example would be the installation of gentoo. You need to boot into a livecd and manually (using the command line) install the distrobution. There is little, if any, GUI involved in the process.

Although with ubuntu it's not like that. I was just pointing out other distributions don't craddle you nearly as much.

I know a fair bit (In my opinion)! I've got over 85% in all the tests on W3schools in the languages I mentioned above, Maybe it's not giving an accurate idea of what I know; In js, I can do image rollovers, display a clock, find the visitors browser and some the basics, in PHP I can process logins, make a guestbook using PHP and a .txt file and most of the basics. I have to learn PHP sessions and SQL and cookies in PHP/JS but I think I'm competent enough with them both…

Yeah and if he did a server install he'd never have a gui at all. My point most linux especially ubuntu as you suggested would not require him to ever touch a command line. Infact apart from gentoo the only other distro I can think of where using the command line is essential is slackware. And I've played with a hell of a lot of distros.

How do you process a login without sql? Do you mean hard coded username/ passwords?

Getting a high score in W3 schools hardly means you know a lot about making websites. I've made a few websites yet I have to look up the css for repeating background images everytime. I could name just about every part of an engine and how it works but I'm far from a machanic/ engineer. Knowing to do something is different from being able to do it.

yup as in <?php if($_POST[username]=="username" && $_POST[password]=="password"]) echo "page text"; else echo "invaled or whatever"; ?> Is that what you mean by hard coding? I just don't know any of the correct terms for things!

My point exactly, being able to do that hardly quailifies as knowing a lot about websites, but it is a start.

Lol I've just looked at your code and it's not valid anyways.

Well what else should I learn? I had a couple of websites set up to practice with when I was learning something new but when I thought I had done all I could without SQL, I stopped because I didn't think it was that important (how wrong was I!) Also, all the different versions and needing different software and stuff confused me a bit as I have always coded in plain Notepad so I found it a huge inconvenience. I found that creating a guestbook without SQL took a lot of effort and I think it shows that I do know a reasonable amount of PHP and general web dev… anyways

Erm, well a reasonable amount of html is needed, nothing to good, just enough that you could make the pages statically.

Then php, if you made a guestbook in php then thats sounds good. All you need is a starting point I guess? Make the page in html, just put in dummy content. Then you can think about putting in php to make it dynamic.

Sounds good. Any ideas for images and that, I don't have any image/photo editor so I would have trouble making my own. Any ideas on some open source ones but I suppose if I'm getting Linux I'll be able to get one through that… Is there a image editor built into Linux???

You would be hard pushed to find a gui linux distribution without gimp already installed! I made the images on my website, and my sig in gimp, and I'm sure much of the sigs' on this site are made in gimp( it runs on windows too and is completely free).

I implore you to try linux, burn a live cd. boot your pc with it when your dad isn't home if you have to! You're about to enter a new era of computing( I'm excited can you tell?).

It must be good!!! I would burn it on a cd and try it out but with an average laptop and by far the worst os IN THE WORLD (vista, I swear, I'd prefer MS-DOS!!!) I can't… Dad's the admin and you even need admin clearence to run notepad++ for crying out loud!!!

rememebr now, linux is not an add on to windows, it's a completely different beast.

Has he passworded the bios? I guess not ( I hope not!) then you're good to go with a live cd :D You put it in your laptop and power it on, you may have to tell it to boot form the cd, (boot menu or boot priority in the bios) and then just go to boot form disc, it'll be quiet slow about 50% slower than installed ( thats the number usually quoted but I don't know how true it is. just think much much slower)

I haven't watched the whole thing but here a youtube video of someone downloading, burning and booting from a ubuntu live cd, cool music too.

to re-iterate, You don't need to go touch windows or even the hard drive to try out linux.

also heres me with some ubuntu eye candy.

bios…..? Sometimes you need a p/w for starting cds but not always. My dad knows this computer security expert (sets up networks and does pen-testing too I think… Pretty cool guy actually) I'll just get him to explain to my dad about Linux. GIMP graphics look good too btw! thanks for all your help man

np, bios is what makes that stuff splash on your computer then scroll by before you see the windows laoding screen,

First off…WAMP or Apache …. there the same thing there is WAMP and LAMP…. WAMP- Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP LAMP - Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

WAMP is just a phrase to represent a work environment just like LAMP

Next Flex…No No No. Flex is Flash… whats the difference its how the program is setup. Flex is a environment meant for more business apps, while flash for more designers.

AJAX is wonderful a matter of fact i left a post with a simple ajax lib i made in http://www.hellboundhackers.org/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=22&thread_id=15304#142950

Also while MySQL is nice you really should focus on Oracle since its the main SQL used in the corporate world.

wolfmankurd wrote: You know I get the feeling you know less about making website then you let on. This is the defining statement in the thread, and I concur.

SET wrote: First off…WAMP or Apache …. there the same thing

… No, they're not. As you tried to say, WAMP/LAMP is a collection of tools that are commonly deployed in unison. Apache is only one part of that.

SET wrote: AJAX is wonderful a matter of fact i left a post with a simple ajax lib i made in http://www.hellboundhackers.org/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=22&thread_id=15304#142950

Very nice small lib, btw. However, the OP is obviously not ready to indulge in AJAX or anything in JS beyond the absolute basics because, ultimately, his PHP and MySQL skills will have to improve.

SET wrote: Also while MySQL is nice you really should focus on Oracle since its the main SQL used in the corporate world. Please put the pipe down before replying. I'm not sure where you got this bit of information in relation to PHP web programming, but it's terribly wrong. MySQL is packaged in WAMP/LAMP for a reason. If anything, PostgreSQL would be a close second. Then SQL Server. Then maybe Oracle or DB2 or something.

… and, yes, before you reply: I'm speaking about web development in the corporate world.

OP: Start basic. A blog is a good place to start because it's simple, but it allows you to develop functionality that teaches useful skills. Then, after you build the blog, build a CMS to control it. At that point, you'll have a better idea of what you want to do, or you can just pop back in here and try again. :)

SET wrote: Also while MySQL is nice you really should focus on Oracle since its the main SQL used in the corporate world.

define wrote: Please put the pipe down before replying. I'm not sure where you got this bit of information in relation to PHP web programming, but it's terribly wrong. MySQL is packaged in WAMP/LAMP for a reason. If anything, PostgreSQL would be a close second. Then SQL Server. Then maybe Oracle or DB2 or something.

I hate stupid people Cough* Cough* define

Market Share Of Rational Database Management Systems for 2006 Oracle 47% IBM 21% Microsoft 17% http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=507466

yes yes i know its old but the new 2009 report came out but its still being sold not given out free if you wanna buy it …its here http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=260&mode=2&PageID=3460702&id=1018712&ref=

and here is what oracle says… about the 2009 report http://www.oracle.com/database/number-one-database.html

define wrote: Very nice small lib, btw. However, the OP is obviously not ready to indulge in AJAX or anything in JS beyond the absolute basics because, ultimately, his PHP and MySQL skills will have to improve.

What does PHP and MySQL have to do with ajax….. Do you even know what your talking about…..

SET wrote: First off…WAMP or Apache …. there the same thing

define wrote: … No, they're not. As you tried to say, WAMP/LAMP is a collection of tools that are commonly deployed in unison. Apache is only one part of that.

……YAY for repeating me. douche

FLAME WAR!

I have to admit when he said WAMPserver it didn't click he meant windows,apache,mysql,php. I just assumed it was a new http server I'd not heard of.

I'd also have to agree though, if you can't use php and mysql then you have no business going near ajax. they have nothing to do with each other, nor has dancing and walking, but you certainly should learn to walk before you learn to dance.

Mysql vs oracle, I'd have to also side with mysql. Learning to use mysql is more useful outside the corporate sector and puts you in good stead to learning to use oracle.

SET wrote: I hate stupid people Cough* Cough* define

Market Share Of Rational Database Management Systems for 2006 http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=507466

yes yes i know its old but the new 2009 report came out but its still being sold not given out free if you wanna buy it …its here http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=260&mode=2&PageID=3460702&id=1018712&ref=

and here is what oracle says… about the 2009 report http://www.oracle.com/database/number-one-database.html

There's a reason my name is define, SET. Whenever you have time, feel free to define "market share" and "revenue" since, if you had done that prior to replying, you would realize that those reports only consider commercial software packages.

Also, please note the line that I placed in my previous post (which I have courtesy-reposted below) prior to your response, knowing full well that you would ignore it because you are desperate to be heard.

define wrote: … and, yes, before you reply: I'm speaking about web development in the corporate world.

SET wrote: What does PHP and MySQL have to do with ajax….. Do you even know what your talking about…..

No, I do not know that AJAX is a client-side implementation of Javascript that performs asynchronous calls to server-side scripts to avoid a page refresh for a seamless user experience. While you're at it, define "server-side language" and give a few examples.

SET wrote: First off…WAMP or Apache …. there the same thing

define wrote: … No, they're not. As you tried to say, WAMP/LAMP is a collection of tools that are commonly deployed in unison. Apache is only one part of that.

SET wrote: ……YAY for repeating me. douche

… Read, then respond.

My goal was to assist the original poster in not being misled by false or misinterpreted information, as everyone else should be doing when someone requests help. If you wish to continue this, we can. Try to pull relevant links and information in your next argument, though.

Define

See Problem with you is you shoot of random statements like MySQL is used more in corp web dev……but you don't show any proof i am wrong….I show you market share and you show me nothing… Oracle will get you a job in a corp MySQL will get you a job in a small home town web company. I mean its not like i work for a fortune 500 company or anything(sarcasm).

MySQL great for the small websites but major companies tell you the SQL database your using and most of the 500 use oracle.

Also Ajax doesn't have to grab from a server side language…but i guess its ok for you to tell people that to make people think they do…..with ajax i could just call HTML like defineIsAIdiot.htm. Unless you believe HTML is server side Language???? Naaa no way your that slow…

So Define before you think you can go one on one with me get some experience in the real world with real situations instead of making up your own facts

SET wrote: See Problem with you is you shoot of random statements like MySQL is used more in corp web dev……but you don't show any proof i am wrong….I show you market share and you show me nothing…

I discredited your "market share". Read above.

SET wrote: Oracle will get you a job in a corp MySQL will get you a job in a small home town web company. I mean its not like i work for a fortune 500 company or anything(sarcasm).

MySQL great for the small websites but major companies tell you the SQL database your using and most of the 500 use oracle.

Okay. What do you do at this Fortune 500 company?

… Have you used MySQL? Have you ever built an enterprise-level web site with a MySQL backend? Since you love to talk about you, I'll just ask a bunch of questions.

SET wrote: Also Ajax doesn't have to grab from a server side language…but i guess its ok for you to tell people that to make people think they do…..with ajax i could just call HTML like defineIsAIdiot.htm. Unless you believe HTML is server side Language???? Naaa no way your that slow…

Do YOU use AJAX to call HTML files? If so, why? What is AJAX most commonly used for?

When you reached a bit to say the "html is server side language, eh?" comment, is that signifying that you have nothing worthwhile to add? Anyone can flame, but can you contribute?

SET wrote: So Define before you think you can go one on one with me get some experience in the real world with real situations instead of making up your own facts If I had a choice between "making up facts" and reading everything with my head up my ass, I'd obviously choose the first. Unfortunately, until you figure out how to read my previous posts in their entirety, you are doomed to the second. Your hollow jabs mean nothing.

Define ….what have you contributed….all you do is come in here say other people are wrong and still you show no proof

define wrote: Whenever you have time, feel free to define "market share" and "revenue" since, if you had done that prior to replying, you would realize that those reports only consider commercial software packages.

….Thats not disproving anything. Thats you just talking to talk….I provided links to show that the major Corporations…Notice Corporations….aka Fortune 500 Companies use Oracle for the database needs including Web Dev. Now you can reply back and say "no it doesnt" all you like but i provided Gartner Reports and you provided nothing. The OP wanted to know what to learn and i gave my opinion of what the Corp world wanted.

SET wrote: What does PHP and MySQL have to do with ajax….. Do you even know what your talking about…..

define wrote: No, I do not know that AJAX is a client-side implementation of Javascript that performs asynchronous calls to server-side scripts to avoid a page refresh for a seamless user experience. While you're at it, define "server-side language" and give a few examples.

SET wrote: Ajax doesn't have to grab from a server side language…but i guess its ok for you to tell people that to make people think they do…..with ajax i could just call HTML

define wrote: Do YOU use AJAX to call HTML files? If so, why? What is AJAX most commonly used for?

Ok ok you see this is called retarded…when you say one thing and then when i show you its not just server side you then try to change the foolishness of your question. I showed you it didn't need to be just server side.

When you say false facts like AJAX is a client-side implementation of Javascript that performs asynchronous calls to server-side scripts and then expect me to just sit back and watch you spill crap out you mouth and pass it off for intelligence….then your wrong. Get over it…you didnt know what you were talking about ….CASE CLOSED

Stay civil guys.

ynori7 wrote: Stay civil SET, please.

There, corrected you, for free!

Also, Oracle = cashgrab. You've heard it here first.

Alright, this is obviously going to get nowhere when I attempt to go back and forth with you, but you're not comprehending what I'm saying or inferring in the first place. For you and the other people reading this thread that can't understand it, too, here's a series of Sesame Street explanations.

1. Market share shows a commercial package's presence in a market, yes. Commercial. Paid. Other than the few thousands of people that actually pay for support on MySQL, no one pays for MySQL. Thus, MySQL does not show up on a market share report.

2. There are two types of market share: market share by revenue and market share by units sold. You provided links for market share by revenue; those links say that Oracle is getting the most MONEY out of the market, not that more people use Oracle than anything. The only entity that truly cares about Oracle's market share by revenue is Oracle, because it gives no useful information to anyone seriously considering Oracle as an option.

Go ask one of your financial people at your big Fortune 500 company to explain this to you, or feel free to brush up on essential knowledge here.

Let's cover this link that you originally posted to show the market share, since the other link just shows Oracle and not its competitors. Oracle is around 45-50% share by revenue (we'll say 50%), IBM is around 20%, and Microsoft is around 15%. Market share by revenue… so, those percentages are how much of the RDBMS money each made. Still following? Good.

Would you say that Oracle is at least 3 times the cost of SQL Server?

With Oracle at 50% and Microsoft at 15%, if Oracle happened to be 3 times the cost of SQL Server, then both companies would have equal market share by units sold because Microsoft's market share by revenue is 1/3rd of Oracle's. I know that probably confused you, so I'm going to break it down further:

You're selling solid gold oranges, and I'm just peddling the regular orange fruit. You sell yours for $20 each, and I sell mine for $1 each. Our market share by revenue, at the end of the year, shows that you earned 60% of the $200 revenue for that market. You sold 6 of your item. I sold 80 of mine.

Here's a cost comparison from 2005 (I believe), between SQL Server and Oracle: http://www.mssqlcity.com/Articles/Compare/sql_server_vs_oracle.htm#part_4

If you need any more tutoring on business or financial sense, you can message me privately.

3. Yes, AJAX does not have to grab from a server-side language. It can perform a request to a file that does nothing, but contains formatted text or HTML/XML or what-have-you.

The point is this: Though it can do that, is that what you'd normally use AJAX for? I've been using AJAX for at least 3 years now, and I can honestly count the number of times I have requested something OTHER than a PHP script on one hand. It's simply not as useful as requesting a server-side script. Of course, you're going to completely screw up your first attempt at reading this, so let's drop back down to the kindergarten scenario:

I buy a pocket knife and start talking about how handy it is when opening packages and so on. You respond by saying that pocket knives can also be used for poking holes in furniture cushions and maiming small puppies, and then ask me if I am dumb enough to think that maiming small puppies and opening packages are related.

Yeah, read it again, then read what you typed about HTML and server-side previously. You looked REALLY ignorant when you typed that. What you should have done is simply specified that the definition I provided was inaccurate, and then corrected it.

If you want to continue attacking me, that's fine. I'm having a conversation, and you're welcome to continue participating in it… provided you actually take the time to read my responses.

I say kudos to Zeph. Actually thoroughly explaining and making sure his facts are %100 (or at least as close as he can get) and also for explaining it easy. Everyone should understand this.

PS. Welcome back Zeph, hope you get to stay a while. I always enjoyed your posts.

ok, I've started on a website. Very basic at the minute… It will have a Guestbook, A news section (not sure what to put in that), A blog section and the homepage. I'll expand it when I've finished those pages to include a comment section on the blog and possibly some type of a member system. I've decided to go with MySQL simply because of the vast amount of resources and tutorials compared to Oracle. It's also free! I've finished the Homepage and the blog and I'm going to start learning MySQL now so I can start on my guestbook. Thanks for all yere help and I'll be posting the web adress up here as soon as it's finished.

[edit]I downloaded wampserver and I'm having some problems… anyone I can PM about it? thanks! Also, the small bit of the website that I have up is here: http://notmyfault.t35.com[/edit]

Yes, feel free to PM me. You can also PM any questions you have regarding PHP or MySQL.

looking good!

ok, wampserver up and running and the guestbook is made (with a lot of help from w3schools and a tutorial :D) It's on localhost until it's bulletproof but I've found two problems…

1)It says that (in Firefox v.3) "The connection was reset. The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading." And in IE v.8 it says that it couldn't connect. It couldn't connect…? to a local host??? I'm not that good with this (yet!) but that's not right is it?

2)When I want to put this online (notmyfault.t35.com) What will I do with the database?

Thanks

NotMyFault wrote: 1)It says that (in Firefox v.3) "The connection was reset. The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading." And in IE v.8 it says that it couldn't connect. It couldn't connect…? to a local host??? I'm not that good with this (yet!) but that's not right is it?

2)When I want to put this online (notmyfault.t35.com) What will I do with the database?

Thanks

1. Does this error only appear on your site? Because I get that message when my laptop loses it's wireless connection. Sometimes I just have to refresh the page a couple times. If it is just your site, then something's timing out. Check to make sure you're connecting to the right thing or that there's something for you to connect to. (i.e. you misspelled the database name or even threw in an infinite loop somewhere critical.)

2. I don't know about t35, but a crapload of free hosts provide (minimal) free SQL services. There should be an option on the control panel. I think.

Also, double check your port configuration and which port your connecting to. I know it sounds like a dumb mistake nobody would ever make, but I hang out in a few tech support IRC channels and you would be surprised how many people make that mistake.

Oh, and since this is windows. Double check you don't have a firewall blocking the port. Try disabling your local machines firewall(s) and connecting. If it works then your firewall is messing stuff up.

You're not giving an all too accurate description of what's going on. If you just typed localhost in the address bar then I don't think that you need to fuck about with firewalls and such, it shouldn't be needed if you've granted wamp access to the net. I suggest checking your apache logs to see if your request is even getting to the server or not. If it isn't, then you know that you can't even access it, otherwise it's probably a script that's stuck somewhere such as what Futility mentioned.

It's all local so why would the firewall have anything to do with it? I'd say it could be a problem with my code somewhere. It was very dodgy with loads of guesswork and a tutorial! Would someone mind explaining how I could get RSS feeds to pull news from other sites so I could display it on my News section without having to find stuff myself? From what I know it involves XML…? Any thoughts on what I could do once I've finished the guestbook and the News sections? Thanks again

NotMyFault wrote: It's all local so why would the firewall have anything to do with it? I'd say it could be a problem with my code somewhere. It was very dodgy with loads of guesswork and a tutorial! Would someone mind explaining how I could get RSS feeds to pull news from other sites so I could display it on my News section without having to find stuff myself? From what I know it involves XML…? Any thoughts on what I could do once I've finished the guestbook and the News sections? Thanks again

There are quite a few security apps that filter the loopback interface, actually……. As for putting RSS feeds on your site you would probably use a XML parser class in PHP then just print to the page whatever your script finds necessary.

This class looks usable: http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/file/9235.html

Although I'm no PHP expert so there might be another, better, way to do that.

As said, check apache logs to see if your request even reaches the server for processing or not so you at least get a general idea of where the problem lies. Also, just to cover the idiot base with the simple questions: have you even started the server? Without any problems at startup might I add. Oh yeah, there should be logs for startup errors as well, might want to check just to make sure.

I think I bit of a bit more than I could chew with the guestbook database thing, so I decided to just make it with a plain text file and append it with the user data. 2 problems I have (again) with it though…

1. I don't want javascript injected into it so how effective is the htmlentities function? Is there any better alternatives (apart from all posts being emailed to me and me checking each one individually) that would stop all possible injections?

2)How can I style the guestbook input to fit in with the rest of my site? Would I have to make a class in my stylesheet and put all the input into the class?

Thanks again!!!

Thanks, but I think I'll stick to the .txt file for the minute. I'm still fairly new and I think trying to create a database, store the info in it, write it to the page and try to stop SQL injections and things like that would be a bit too challenging and I'd probarbly just give up after a day or two! I'm not even sure if my web host supports sql for free accounts. Thanks again

Database is alot easier then you might believe. Just use the MyPHPAdmin that comes with WAMP. Also for the php part you should torrent PHP Designer 2008….Great way to learn.

I suppose I could use a database. It would work on a local server but I don't think t35 support it for their free accounts. Notepad++ Does all that syntax highlighting and stuff. Doesn't do the debugging though. I might get it, I'll see…

MoshBat wrote: And for debugging. Have you ever heard of error reporting? Or the FirePHP extension for Firefox. Requires you to install the Firebug extension, which is handy to have in web development, anyways.

Also, if you use error_reporting, be sure to turn it off when you move your files from your local machine to your free host account.

MoshBat wrote: Most servers have error reporting off. Mostly, it's done in php.ini… But seriously, who ever uses markuperror_reporting(E_ALL); anywhere but the ini file? Depends… Where did you use it in your first few weeks of knowing PHP? :)

ok 2 problems (always 2 with me…)

1. in IE v.8 the dotted outlines will stay there no matter what I do! They aren't there in firefox because of outline:none; in my stylesheet but that won't work for IE.

2)In Firefox, it won't take h3{color:0FF00;} from my external stylesheet but it will in IE. In Firefox it will only take inline styles for some reason… Also, How can I style the guestbook input?

Thanks

As far as the guestbook input, Just set the

.guestbook{
background-color:00;
color:f0;
}

<input type="text" class="guestbook">
<textarea class="guestbook"></textarea>

Both will have a black backgound and green text.

Alright, couple of opinions on the CSS here…

The style is "border", not "outline". It would look like this: markupborder: none;

… or, if you're doing a 2px gray border, you'd do this for the shorthand: markupborder: 2px #ccc solid;

Note that shorthand color declarations must have 3 hex characters preceded by a # (like #fff for white, 000 for black, #ccc for gray, etc.). Normally, you'd probably have to specify the color with a 6 hex character code, preceded by #. The only time you'd use the shorthand is if you have duplicated characters in each hex character (basically, something like #ff0022 could be shortened to #f02).

Apparently, HBH has a problem with # and 0 put together, so I edited to make it more readable.

MoshBat wrote: Outline is perfectly valid CSS. If memory serves, the difference between the two is outline doesn't take up any space, or something like that.

Well, look at that… There is an outline property. I stand corrected. Went ahead and read up on it a bit: http://css-tricks.com/removing-the-dotted-outline/

I generally use a CSS reset before I add styles, so that's probably why I've never fooled with it. And, yes, the outline appears to not be part of the box model, while border is (added to width and height of a container).

MoshBat wrote: And I personally don't like using short colours, mostly because at some point, I'm likely to want to knock the colour down a shade or two, so it actually ends up saving me time. This is probably a matter of taste. I've known people that specialize in CSS and never use shorthand colors. I use them religiously.

I think I'll just forget about IE… It's so awkward! I got the guestbook working in part but a few problems once again!

1. I'm trying to assign an id to each name and comment and name but I have no idea how to…

2. When I get the id thing working how would I be able to arrange the comments and names like this:

1|NotMyFault|comment | ||______________| 2|whoever |haha you sites| | |awful!!! | ||______________|

You get the idea… So the name, the id and the comment all line up nicely with each other

Thanks again!

.t35.com don't support databases for their free accounts :( css is w3 valid but the actual pages aren't due to bad coding by the .t35.com ads… :angry: Just the new section left and I think I'll need to learn XML for that because I want to pull RSS feeds in from other pages and post those articles straight to the page. Any thoughts on how to do that? Guestbook is finished. Thanks to everyone who helped with the css! Check it out and if you find anything wrong with it please tell me!

Now that I think about it, I've learned a lot in the last like week! A lot of PHP, CSS and a couple of other things as well! Thanks especially to Wolfmankurd, Moshbat and Define for helping me with just about everything I asked!

NotMyFault wrote:

1. I'm trying to assign an id to each name and comment and name but I have no idea how to…

… Store an id with the name and comment? Find the last id in the comments "storage", then increment it by 1 for the new one. It's a poor man's auto_increment.

NotMyFault wrote:

2. When I get the id thing working how would I be able to arrange the comments and names like this:

1|NotMyFault|comment | ||______________| 2|whoever |haha you sites| | |awful!!! | ||______________|

CSS

.id, .name, .comment { float:left; padding:5px 10px; }
.id { width:50px; }
.name { width:150px; }
.comment { width:350px; }
.clearFloat { clear:both; }

PHP

/* Presuming that $comments is an array containing arrays with keys 'id', 'name', 'comment', 
    such as array( array('id'=>1, 'name'=>'me', 'comment'=>'hello'), 
    array('id'=>2, 'name'=>'you', 'comment'=>'hi'), etc. ) */

foreach ( $comments as $c ) {
   echo '<div class="id">' . $c['id'] . '</div>' .
          '<div class="name">' . $c['name'] . '</div>' .
          '<div class="comment">' . $c['comment'] . '</div>' .
          '<div class="clearFloat"><!-- x --></div>';
}

Yes, I was in a giving mood. :)

Thanks, I should proberbly switch to one of them! So now that the guestbook's finished, how can I pull rss feeds from one page and display them on my website? I've looked so much but I can't find anything!

What have you looked up for RSS feeders?

oh, and another free host is ulmb.com, they have 5 gigs of space, 500 gb bandwidth, 3 mysql databases, guest accounts, sites stats. and alot more.

NotMyFault wrote: So now that the guestbook's finished, how can I pull rss feeds from one page and display them on my website? I've looked so much but I can't find anything! Uh huh…

Use cURL to get the RSS feed; using file functions is possible, but it's a security risk. Here's an example from the cURL site: http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/php/examples/simpleget.html

Only change you'd make to that is to set a variable equal to the curl_exec() line. That variable would contain the feed.

Then, look at some "PHP SimpleXML examples". You can Google that one.

why in the world would you use cURL for RSS? Why not just use SimpleXML?

AldarHawk wrote: why in the world would you use cURL for RSS? Why not just use SimpleXML? Couldn't remember if simplexml_load_file() pulls files remotely without the allow_url_fopen ini option set. So, I just suggested the next best (2-step) thing: using cURL to retrieve the XML file and using simplexml_load_string() on the response.

Edit: Yes, it appears that simplexml_load_file() requires the allow_url_fopen ini option to function on remote urls. Found a nice little link that basically echoes this post and my previous one, except is longer and gives more code. :P

http://forums.oreilly.com/content/Head-First-PHP-MySQL/2959/Yikes-simplexml-load-file-is-failing-/#entry9149

Right so XML will be learned by me in the coming days! I'm looking into creating a session/cookie for the guestbook to stop spam and the likes but they are hard to learn :whoa:!!! Any other methods I could implement to stop spam or that? Thanks for yere help with the rss feeds

NotMyFault wrote: Right so XML will be learned by me in the coming days!

Good. It's useful to know.

NotMyFault wrote: I'm looking into creating a session/cookie for the guestbook to stop spam and the likes but they are hard to learn :whoa:!!! Any other methods I could implement to stop spam or that? Thanks for yere help with the rss feeds Not sure how a session/cookie would combat spam… but, here's some quick advice on that topic: Forget about cookies in PHP. Just don't bother with them; I doubt you'll ever find a good use for them beyond the whole "Remember Me" aspect of a login form or other such non-essentials for your visitors.

As for the spam prevention, I'd suggest spending a small amount of time looking into Akismet and its API. It's a trusted spam prevention library for PHP.

I was thinking of limiting posts to one per session or something like that… Ill look into that, Thanks

NotMyFault wrote: I was thinking of limiting posts to one per session or something like that… Ill look into that, Thanks That's sensible, but a person can clear their sessions easily with Firefox -> Clear Private Data. Maybe put Recaptcha on the form.

Definitely look more into sessions in PHP, though. They're just as essential as database functionality… just remember to keep non-sensitive information in them due to the various attacks against sessions (Thing 1 and Thing 2).