Please tell me this isn’t hard to do:
I need a web site that:
- allows users to log in and upload text files and audio files
- allows visitors to view said files
I guess my question is two fold:
Design wise, can I use anything to create the look of the site and integrate it with any back end? Or are there certain combinations of that work better?
Would PHP be the quickest way to set this up?
I need this site up by June and don’t need anything fancy. I guess this will be my first real lesson in site design, but I do need a back end that allows for logging in…
Any guidance would be appreciated!
PHP for interface, mysql for all the database and storage set, not to mention a skelton so to speak of xhtml, css and prolly some javascript. Them some photoshop to make it look pretty.
I think you’re underestimated how much effort goes into this.
Well if you want an easy way without coding try yola.com
[quote]SpartanX wrote:
PHP for interface, mysql for all the database and storage set, not to mention a skelton so to speak of xhtml, css and prolly some javascript. Them some photoshop to make it look pretty.
I think you’re underestimated how much effort goes into this.[/quote]
Spot on
And you say this will be your first site design, already incorporating mysql and php, wow!
Take baby steps, find tutorials on the interweb and go download dreamweaver. If your still stuck, buy Website design for dummies.
If your learning how to build a website, its a fair bit of time and learning. Might be easier to get somebody else to do it and with better results - especially if there is a time frame.
I definitely understand what you guys are saying.
Unfortunately, I am being paid out of a puny grant fund ( am an assistant to a professor), so even my entire pay would not be enough to hire someone as a subcontractor to pull this off.
I talked to a friend tonight and we agreed that the shortest path from A to B here might be to use a wiki, since I want the text to be ‘publishable’ and create accounts for the interviewers. That way, I shouldn’t need a database, really. Not everyone should be allowed to edit, unlike wikipedia.
It is certainly overwhelming 
The problem is that I’ve dabbled in a little bit of everything but never been thrown a project. I have quite a bit of resources (knowledgeable friends that are developers, for instance) so I am hoping to get some help on it at least.
Any suggestions you guys can throw me for site functionality would be great, though.
Do you think the wiki idea is a good one?
I do this for a living and have done for about 7 years now. I’ve works for at least 2 years in each of ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, and Rails. I’ve used MySQL, SQL Server, Access for database. I’ve used Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 and Linux.
So just to get that out of the way, I’m not looking for work! Here is some advice.
If this is something you want to get into in the future then forget PHP, it is a mishmash of crapness. I’d go with Ruby on Rails. It’s newer, nicer, has more active development and a smarter community. I still actively program in PHP every day and this is what I believe.
I mean if your two requirements are ALL there is and you’ve done some programming before then it’s not that much. If you haven’t programmed before then I’d forget about it and pay someone else to do it, or investiage any number of free packages out there. You might want a Content Management System or a Social Platform or somethign like that. If you just want to upload files and allow logins etc then maybe look at intranet or document management systems that come off the shelf. You’ll find this will be cheaper than 2 months of your time
If all you need to do is allow logins and uploading then this isn’t so bad, and you’ll likely find a turnkey solution for this and probably for free.
In any case I think PHP is not the place ot start with web development, there are far better alternatives. That’s about all I wanted to say.
ya’ll are way over my head…
I have designed sites in yahoo.com and godaddy.com {pops collar}
