Article
Databased Websites from Scratch
MySQL
This section will be noticeably shorter than the last, as a lot of the resources listed above are also excellent repositories of information on MySQL. Those that are of particular note I'll repeat but as PHP goes hand in hand with MySQL you should really check out almost all of the previously-mentioned sites.
Downloading
- MySQL.com
- PHP Triad for Windows -- Complete server environment
- RPM packages for Linux boxes
- Or check your distributor's download page.
Setting up
Most of the links to PHP resources above also cover MySQL installation as part of the deal. However, here are a couple of MySQL-specific sites:
Beginners' tutorials
As above, a couple of the more notable or specific resources include:
- MySQL.com's beginners' tutorial
- Beginning MySQL Tutorial
- Building a Database-Driven Web Site Using PHP and MySQL
General tutorials and sources of knowledge
Community forums
Worthwhile resources include:
- Database talk -- PHPBuilders database forum
- SitePoint's PHP and MySQL forum
- Devshed's MySQL forum
Well, what are you waiting for? Go learn the MySQL stuff and when you can use and manipulate simple databases with PHP, come back and get stuck into the next section!
The PHPLib Template System
Hopefully, by this point you're happily embedding PHP code that pulls data from MySQL directly into your HTML pages. If you find it fun and exciting to do this then great! And if you've noticed that it can get a little messy sometimes with all that mixed up HTML and PHP code then you're going to love PHPLib templates.
The PHPLib template system is actually part of a much larger collection of useful tools for PHP developers, that all come under the heading of PHPLib. For the purpose of this article I'll simply deal with the template class that can be used as a standalone class, and which you can require() at the top of your pages.
Downloading
This is nice and simple as a class is just a series of functions (or methods) and thus is simply a text file. You'll need to download the entire PHPLib, though, to extract that file. Download it here.
Once you've downloaded the package, unzip it and grab the template.inc file from the php directory.
Setting up
Well, there's nothing really to set up, just include() or require() it at the top of your pages.
Tutorials
Bearing in mind that a class is just a set of functions you can use like any other pre-built or user-defined functions in PHP, there are only a few tutorials available. The two listed below are both great, and provide an excellent starting point.
Community forums
Your best bet here is to post questions on PHPbuilder.com, as there are quite a few hardcore template fans that are always happy to lend a hand on this particular forum. Just remember to put a clear subject heading on your post. Something like 'PHPLib template query' should do the trick.
Well, that's all folks, I hope you found this article useful and that you will enjoy designing your dynamic pages using PHP, MySQL and the PHPLib template class.