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Noob Question about MySQL/PHP(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: Omega
What do I need to learn how to use it? Where can I find tutorials? I know zilch about HTML, should I be trying to learn MySQL/PHP?
Posted by: smeerkat
Schesis will have more info, but I suspect you should understand basic HTML.
Posted by: Austin
quote:
Originally posted by Ømega
What do I need to learn how to use it? Where can I find tutorials? I know zilch about HTML, should I be trying to learn MySQL/PHP?
MySQL & PHP (the combo) is there for back-door web design. You can make a PHP & MySQL website without ever knowing a thing about HTML HOWEVER, if you don't have any programming experince it may be a bit tough.
I'd highly recommend learning about HTML and learning web design (as that is very easy), and then go on to PHP. Once you've had experince in PHP and had a taste for it, dive into MySQL and there is TONS of support for PHP & MySQL at PHP's website www.php.net 
Posted by: schesis
quote:
Originally posted by lefreak
MySQL & PHP (the combo) is there for back-door web design. You can make a PHP & MySQL website without ever knowing a thing about HTML HOWEVER, if you don't have any programming experince it may be a bit tough.
Tough indeed, as it is impossible to create a webpage without knowing at least basic HTML. 
If you have zero knowledge of HTML, I would suggest you start there. http://www.w3schools.com This site is by the people who set the web standards that browser developers and web developers follow.
PHP can be downloaded and learned at www.php.net and MySQL at www.mysql.org. Even with all the online resources that are available, I would still recommend a book called PHP and MySQL Web Development, by SAMS publishing. ISBN: 0-672-31784-2
If all this seems a bit over the top, you can always pick up a content managament portal site like PostNuke or PHP-Nuke. The learning curve is going to be a lot less steep with a pre-made portal, and you get professional looking results.
Posted by: Austin
Not sure if this is any use to anyone, but quite awhile back I made a tutorial for a friend of mine to help teach him PHP. If anyone wants it, the location of the word document is:
http://objectivism.homeip.net/files...HP EXAMPLES.doc
 .
Posted by: UnnDunn
You really should be comfortable with xHTML defore diving in to PHP/MySQL. xHTML is really not very hard to learn. It'll prolly take about a week to get it down, tops.
Posted by: Austin
quote:
Originally posted by UnnDunn
You really should be comfortable with xHTML defore diving in to PHP/MySQL. xHTML is really not very hard to learn. It'll prolly take about a week to get it down, tops.
Posted by: FarQuit
Continuing with the 'noOb to PHP thing' as I'm a new to it too -
I'd like to try a bit of this. My ISP blueyonder gives no support for PHP unless I upgrade the package for an extra £5 / month. There is a bit of space (used to belong to Ve7) I use to host a rough incomplete site for the IRC sunday.smackdown 1 v 1 results and other bits.
Is it posible to tell if I can use this just to try on? Do I need to look for a folder of some sort?
Remember, I know nothing about the host other than the FTP address and login.
I want to end up being able to search a small data set and output the result.
Site here BTW.
Thx
Posted by: UnnDunn
quote:
Originally posted by FarQuit
Is it posible to tell if I can use this just to try on? Do I need to look for a folder of some sort?
Remember, I know nothing about the host other than the FTP address and login.
I want to end up being able to search a small data set and output the result.
Site here BTW.
Thx
Open up a new file in Notepad, and copy/paste the following into it:PHP:
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
Save the file as 'phpinfo.php' and upload it to your webspace, then access it over the Web. If you see a bunch of PHP-related information, then congrats, your server supports PHP.
Posted by: FarQuit
Thanks UnnDunn but;
Warning: phpinfo() has been disabled for security reasons
was the message I got so its not good news 
Posted by: UnnDunn
quote:
Originally posted by FarQuit
Thanks UnnDunn but;
Warning: phpinfo() has been disabled for security reasons
was the message I got so its not good news
Actually, that is good news. It means your host supports PHP, but the 'phpinfo()' function has been blocked. Which kinda sucks, but it's not a showstopper.
Posted by: Ritsui
Note: If your host blocks phpinfo(), they probably block most system commands and may be running in safe mode also. Security is good, but too many restrictions can remove a lot of php's functionality and cause some scripts not to work.
Posted by: Omega
Thanks for all the replies folks!
I am actually needing to build a database program for tracking customer info, sales, service, etc. I just thought i may be able to use MySQL and PHP to execute it. I would just have to use a browser to open it and move around it and such. At least that was my thought...
Is it possible to do that with MySQL and PHP??
Posted by: Ritsui
It certainly is.
http://www.mysql.com/articles/ddws/20.html
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/21/index2a.html
http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/...sics/page1.html
http://www.createafreewebsite.net/p...troduction.html
Just make sure you start with whatever security you'll need in mind before you put anything onlne.
Posted by: Omega
Warning: Delayed Reaction Ahead:
Thanks for the links Rit 
Posted by: FarQuit
I'm a bit late getting back here too!
I've upgraded to the Blueyonder advanced webspace which gives me PHP support.
However, my noobish'ness soon showed through when I tried to get a small daily hit counter working. Its a free download 'kit' and contains 6 PHP files and 2 TXT files which I've upload and done the chmod to the correct values on the files which I'm told need it.
The counter come from here and should just show visit numbers for that day.
I've fiddled with it a bit and found I had to open the config.inc.php file and change this bit:
/* database settings */
$COUNT_DB["dbName"] = "your_db";
$COUNT_DB["host"] = "localhost";
$COUNT_DB["user"] = "root";
$COUNT_DB["pass"] = "";
This database - I've never seen it or know of it and I'm not sure where to look for it let alone know the password. I assume its part of MySQL which I don't get with Blueyonder.
I'm struggling to get my head round this lot 
Posted by: Ritsui
If you don't get access to mysql databases with your hosting plan, then you can't use that particular counter. Find a counter which stores it's data in a plain text file in your web space.
Posted by: FarQuit
Without MySQL its hard to think of a good reason to use PHP on an average 'personal homepage'.
I've seen a few perl guestbooks about, I may give one of them a go.
Posted by: Twisties
I'm interested in learning this too, but is there a way to fiddle with it on a local machine to test things out off line? I have both php and mysql installed, but am not sure what to try/do next.
Posted by: Ritsui
Do you also have a web server (Apache or IIS) installed?
You can certainly use PHP and mysql by themselves and write scripts that do command line output or interface with other programs, but php is designed specifically to be executed as a server module and outtput html, so you'll need a web server installed to get the most out of it.
Posted by: Twisties
hmm...so I would need to have one of the computers on the network set up as a web server, then install mysql and php on there...before I can fiddle?
*wonders if hubby would let her build a third computer*
Posted by: Ritsui
That's probably the best idea. You can use php on your own system, and you can install a web server on your own system, but the safest way is to put them on another machine. For simple sites, pretty much anything from an old Pentium 2 and up will work as a "practice server".
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