Getting Started

[Phty5h]

Im sorry for the double post.... but i thought maybe this was a better location for a SQL related question.


Hi there.... In order to ask this question effectivly, i will give you my testing webserver so you can see what im talking about http://cbmanagment.co.nr/

If you navigate to the CV services section, and then click on the link to the Form that is what im talking about here.

(and yes i know the navigation bar sucks, im working on it  Grin)

Ok, so in the last 3 months ive learnt enough to create this little form you see, It uses hidden fields to pass data between the pages, and then sends all the gathered info as an email to my inbox.

Im quite please with this ..... but, im afraid it needs to go further.

I need to be able to do the following;

1) Restrict access to the form to those people who have paid a fee for the service (membership system)

2) Store the information entered by each member so that they can come back and change it at a later date... or in fact take  there time over filling it out... at the moment it all must be filled and submitted in a oner, and the form is unforgiving of mistakes.

3)related to above, I need to allow the user to freely navigate back and forth within there form, and modify as they see fit.

Further more i need this to be supported on both firefox and IE V 6 and above.

Now i'm pretty sure i need to set up a MySql database in order to accomplish this, however this is my first contact with MySql... and to be honest im finding it difficult to find solid advice on getting started.

I am using Dreamweaver MX2004 for my design, but am quite happy (and prefer even) to code by hand where possible.

I also have WAMP installed and running nicley.... Ive looked at PhpMyadmin, but im not really sure where to start.

Im not looking for anyone to do this for me.... i want and in fact need to learn..... but someone to nudge me in the right direction would be most satisfactory.

You have my greatest thanks for any and all of your help  Smiley

[fenway]

Well, you need to set up a users table of some sort, and store their info there... ultimately, you'll need a login form as well.  I can't imagine that there's a shortage of PHP/MySQL tutorials on the subject, not that I can think of one in particular.

[Phty5h]

Ok, ive moved along a little bit since yesterday ..... i can now create tables using phpmyadmin.

Not sure whether im going to need one database or two in order to accomplish what i want.

Your right, there is no shortage of mysql database's, but they all seem to start at a level a little higher than where i currently am...... once i figure a few things out, and a couple of bits click into place i will be heading to a tutorial.

things i dont understand at the moment;

1) When i create a database in Phpmyadmin ..... where is it? ..... is it a file? ... or a concept? ... how does this information get to my webserver when i upload my site using the dreamweaver ftp client?

Thats really my major stumbling block at the moment, unfortunatly im one of those annoying people who cant do unless he understands 100%, the last 18 months have been very interesting since i undertook to learn to program.

many thanks

[fenway]

The database itself is just a directory name; each table and associated index is an actual file (at least for MyISAM tables) in this directory.  It has nothing to do with dreamweaver or FTP.