[Angel-X]

Okay I figure the title of this post is enough to confuse most so here I go adn I will try to be as clear as I can.

While I may have been making websites for the last 4 years or so more as a hobby than anything else I guess and have been making flash animations and sites for the last couple of years I have no knowledge of php or asp or anything outside html and flash. This in itself has lead to my current predicament because even though I know what I want or at least what the end result is I have no idea where to start or even what to start with.

The best thing for me to do then would be to give you the idea of the end result. I have a site that is very user driven in that the main bulk of its contents is user submitted based. In much the same way as this forum works whereby someone ( me for example ) writes something, clicks the enter/submit button and hey presto suddenly its online and even has its own page that never existed prior to the submission what I am looking for is a way of allowing my user of my site to login to the site, write whatever it is they want to write, submit it and likewise there it appears with its own page etc !!

My problem is two fold. First and foremostly I am usure of what it is I need to accomplish this goal. Is this a PHP thing ?? An ASP thing ?? The problem is I dont know !! This, I guess will be a relatively easy question to answer for most people on this forum so I know that problem one is the least of my problems.

Problem one however leads me to my second problem. Now knowing that what I require cannot be accomplished by HTML I will have to learn whatever it is that can accomplish what I require therefore my second question to the person who can answer my first question is what advice can you give me to learn this other scripting whatever it is ?? Where are the best places I can find tutorials ?? What applications will I need to purchase ?? I use Dreamweaver UD4 reasonably proficiently if that helps any. Or am I better off just paying someone to do all this stuff for me ??

I understand that am going to have to put in some serious hours/weeks/months in order to accomplish my goal so this isn't something I take lightly but time is something I have, enthusiasm and patience is something I have and a willingness to learn from people who know better than me is something I have.

I am hoping that the people reading this forum are the people in
the know so educate me or at least give me a starting point from where to begin.

[Tesco]

Well, yes, you'll need ASP or PHP.

Really, what you want is relatively simple. But your kind of approaching it from the wrong angle.

Do you want to integrate this with the already exsisting user content? What type of database are you using?

If your using a database, then, it's gonna be really simple. But, instead of actually creating a new page for every submission on your server, it'd be better to use a RecordSet filter.

You probably don't know what that is, but, UD4 can do everything you want it to - it can be tricky at first - but you'll get used to it.

Seen as your coming from flash - i'd recomend PHP.

[Angel-X]

Okay basically I figured that after I had made all the stuff, whatever the stuff was for this system to work I would redesign the site around it and then relaunch the site with this new format. So keeping current user content should not be an issue as it can be added again post relaunch.

Okay the database bit .... I dont have a database. Currently the system works like this ... User X comes on the site and decides they want to submit something to the site. User X then uses one of the Emailer forms on the site to mail me their submission. I then copy and paste their submission from their E-mail into a blank premade template page, edit for spelling errors etc, save as an HTML page, add link to that page on listings page, upload both pages to the server.

Pretty simple way of doing things but can be quite time consuming as you can imagine plus there is also the fact of updating the site cannot be done physically 24 hours a day due to me actually having a life away from the site, having to sleep etc.

So no database at this time !!

"But, instead of actually creating a new page for every submission on your server, it'd be better to use a RecordSet filter."

Okay well this is my point, I don't know how to accomplish what I want to do so if you say this RecordSet filter thing is what I need then cool but would it be possible for you to elaborate on this as at the moment I dont even know what a RecordSet filter is !!

Much thanks for aiding me thus far. I hope you wont mind aiding me further !!

[Tesco]

Well, before things can be explained further, you need to decide what language you want to use, I did recomend you PHP, however, I don't think thats a great idea anymore.

I use ASP, so I'll explain it that way...

I really doubt you have a SQL Server? If not, don't worry about it. Have you ever used/heard of Microsoft Access? I think you will have, this is ideal to use a database back-end for your project.

Quite simply, each page that user is required to interact, the database will be contacted.

Register Form - You'll need one of those so people can get themself a username/password. This will be a form, that interacts with the database, to insert the relavant information.

Login Form - This will check a submitted username/password with ones in the database, and if it is then it'll send you to...

Post Form - The place where someone types up what they want to submit, also added to the database.

Display - Show what they have submitted.

Something you really, do, need to understand is what a RecordSet it is. It's basically, information from a database, held in a web page.

This is where the filter comes in. You want to display one submission, as if it has it's own page. With ASP, one page can be made, but it has the ability to fliter out the ones it doesn't need, and only display the required one.

I can help you with this if you like, but I need to know... does your host support ASP and Access? If not, do you mind moving to a free one?

If you do want my coding help, then, simply make the pages, in a way you see fit, with the forms etc, and I'll add the ASP to make it all work.

[Angel-X]

Okay so ASP would seem to be a better option at this point, thats cool.

To answer your other question ... At the moment I'm using fateback as a host which has been okay for me uptil now but it doesn't mysql or a cgi bin or anything fancy but seeing as to this point all I have needed was this it has served me well however I fully realise that I will have to change servers the only issue there is finding a server that siuts my needs if its free or paying for a server once everythig is ready to be launched.

I did download mysql from their site but so far have done nothing with it, i dont know if that will help any.

I do have MS Access it was installed with my office 97 although to be truthful I have never used it nor even looked at it never having the need to.

You mentioned helping me script this stuff and that would be cool, I guess I need to go through this in a step by step process so I understand all the aspects of this and how everything works.

It's good to know that there are people out there that dont mind lending a hand and passing on knowledge that they have learned to others.

[Tesco]

Well, I think the easiest way to it would be, send me a template of the site. That way, I can make the extra pages needed, and once I'm done, if I've used the wrong fonts or colours etc, you can change them without affecting the ASP of the page.

That sound ok? If it is, either put it up for download somewhere and PM me the link, or e-mail it to mat_2k2@hotmail.com as a attachment.

[Angel-X]

I have e-mailed you a rar file with the components of a blank template page. If you require more from me just let me know !!