squeaky

It is very hard for me to ask for help, and I am learning that this hindrance is causing many problems in my work life. I am here to ask for help with a work project that I have made a mess of. I need guidance. Long story short, I have been developing websites for more than 15 years. I started out in classic ASP. I have developed many e-commerce sites from the ground up, complete customization. In the past few years we have moved away from doing classic asp websites. I have tried to convert my old asp way of thinking and developing to PHP. Bad idea… My current project is fraught with issues, the more I work on it the more I realize that I am doing it wrong, there has to be a better solution. My foundation is rocky and the code is a mess. I am usually an efficient programmer (or try to be), but this experience is destroying any confidence I may have had in the past. I’m somewhat deep into this project, and I basically had to tell the boss this morning that I fucked up, that I am just making a mess out of this situation, I am overwhelmed and I do not know what to do. We are in a bind. I have seen the MVC framework in action having used an open source s/w called OpenCart to build a few carts. I think this might be the way to go, or at least something similar to this approach to fixing this ‘sinking ship’. The project I need help with, in short, is a cart were users can purchase personalized documents. There are several levels of authorization: purchasers who need to log-in, data entry people who need to ‘create’ the documents by completing a 46 question form, people who will need to approve the documents, etc. There is some workflow going back and forth between the creator of the document, and the approver. This is just a sampling of what needs to happen. I have come to realize my way of doing things is the wrong way. I need to find the right way – I don’t have a lot of time. I don’t know if this project is salvageable in the condition it is in, or if it needs to be reworked into an MVC framework. If so, which one? I am overwhelmed with my choices. I also am looking for someone to help me work on this project, willing to teach me, or at the very least allow me to help with the development. I need advice, I need help, it’s 2 days from Christmas and I need a miracle. I am looking for some guidance on how to proceed, how to find the right framework (or salvage what we have) and then locate someone who can help with the development in a timely manner and won’t break the bank. Thank you for your time, and happy holidays.

Hi wildteen88 Thank you so much for your help. Have a great night!

Hi wildteen88 - I'm currently working on an XP box, running iis, I just installed php Version 5.2.4 I'm accessing all my sites via localhost. (I cannot figure out how to get a dns running on XP - I just don't have the brain power right now - so I suffer.) I do all my professional development on this machine - can I run both IIS and Apache on the XP? What concerns if any do I need to be aware of? I want to be able to write php sites for the linux/apache environment as well as windows/iis. Can I develop one php site and have it function properly on both systems?

Wildteen88 - Thanks for the reply. That has been my biggest concern. I have been developing classic asp websites for almost ten years on a Windows Production Machine. All my includes are done virtually from the root. I want to follow the same pattern on the php. Thank you so much for the help. BlueSkyIS - running PHP Version 5.2.4 - thanks for the heads up. phpnoobie9 - is that required?

Can I develop a php website on a windows development machine and then move it to a Linux production server? What if anything should I be aware of? Thanks in advance.