editing site content - where is content located?

[jfenley]

Hi, brand new to php - I KNOW NOTHING!!!  I have several web sites that were built with php and I want to edit the content of the sites.  I have opened many of the php files but I cannot locate the "content" for the sites.

 

Please tell me the file names\folders that contain the web site content.  The php files that I have opened in my hosting company code editor only contain php code and I have not been able to find any content text inside the files.

 

Thanks for the help!

[KevinM1]

Chances are, the content is stored in a database, and not within files/folders.

[WebStyles]

search through your files to see if there's anything resembling mysql_query, mysql_connect... anything that says mysql really. If you have that, it means content is on a database, try accessing www.yourdomain.com/cpanel then login and look for phpmyadmin (it's worth a try).

if you have cpanel, then you'll have phpmyadmin that will allow you to see the databases and their content.

 

 

hope this helps

[jfenley]

Thanks Nightslyr and WebStyles for your responses.

 

Using phpmyadmin I did find the database and was able to log into it but I am way out of my element.

 

I don't seem to know enough even to ask the correct questions to get a solution!  I don't know anything about database operations or sql.  I am simply trying to find the content (text, words, links etc.) for the site so that I can edit it.   

 

I have no idea what I am looking at after I get into the sql database - I just need to know WHERE are the text\words are located so I can edit the site content.  I am used to the content residing in "files" somewhere that can be opened and edited.

 

Thanks again for your time and assistance, sorry I am not "getting it."

 

John Fenley

[Pikachu2000]

My advice would be to find a local professional to hire before you cause irreparable damage while trying to learn using actual production data.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

I have several web sites that were built with php

 

Is this custom written php code or is it based on an opensource php script, such as Joomla, Mambo, Mediawiki, phpbb, SMF, Wordpress, or similar (there would generally be comments in the .php source code that identifies what it is.)

[WebStyles]

What kind of websites are we talking about? is it like a blog, where there bound to be a minimal set of database fields, like date, time, title, text, etc...

or something like an online store that has shopping carts and whatnot?

 

If it's the first type, it shouldn't be too hard for you to find the correct tables in phpmyadmin and be able to change the content.

[jfenley]

Thank you for your response but I am still not getting my question answered.

 

Here is the situation.  I have several web sites built with Wordpress and I also have some sites that were built using the scripting language PHP.  I do not know php and I have been unable to find the files that contain the content (letters, words, text, pictures, graphics, links, etc.) for the sites so I can edit that content.

 

For example, in MS Word the “content” is contained in “files” that are saved as <filename>.doc.  The same goes for text files, the “content” is saved as <filename>.txt.  The same wit h with all other applications\programs I am familiar with.  The “content” in all can then be edited or changed by simply opening the file in the appropriate application and making any changes necessary.

 

The same  goes In Wordpress, the  “content” is maintained in files as “pages” and “posts” these files  are easily edited by simply opening Wordpress and selecting the page or post (content) to be edited.

 

This does NOT seem to be the way “content” is saved in php.  It seems to me that all of the files in “php” use the same file ending “.php” and most of these files are filled with “php code” and not the site content (letters, words, text, pictures, graphics, links, etc.).  I am sure there is some reason for this but, in my opinion, makes finding the “content” for editing very difficult.

 

If some one could tell me the name(s) of the file(s) that php uses to store the “content” that would be very helpful.

 

Thank you.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

We cannot answer the question you are asking without knowing what the php code is doing. BTW Wordpress is just a php script itself.

 

The php code could be storing the content in the php file itself, in a .php file that is being included into the main .php file, in a .txt file, in a .csv file, in a .xml file, in a database, reading it from some other site, ...

 

The whole point of programming is to write code to do what the programmer wanted, when, and where he wanted it. Whoever wrote your php scripts decided (or was told) where to store the content and that is where the content will be. If the php script was well written, there should be an administrative web page that lets you edit/add content.

 

If you have some php code you would like help with, you would need to post it.

[xyph]

No, you have been helped. You have been helped MORE than you should have.

 

This is a forum for PHP programmers to get help. You're asking us to provide you a service that would usually go to a hired programmer.

 

If you don't know anything about the language, how do you expect to understand our solutions?

 

PHP is a robust language. The markup and content can be located in many places. Databases, flat files, remote feeds, etc are all possible sources of content, let alone in the PHP files directly.

 

Hire a programmer. It seems obvious that you don't appreciate or understand the free help you're getting

[KevinM1]

Like others have said, Wordpress is actually a PHP script itself.  Also, when you edit content in Wordpress, what's really happening is the following:

 

You click on something that tells the system what content you wish to edit.

This site interaction sends a HTTP request to the Apache web server, which invokes the proper PHP script.

The PHP script parses the HTTP request, and queries the database with the request data.

The PHP script then takes that database data and renders it to the screen, along with the rest of the site (images, HTML, CSS).

 

What you edit is database data in a web form.  When you click 'Save' or 'Submit', the process repeats, this time with the data being saved to the database rather than received from it.

 

So, needless to say, yes, we understand your problem.  Unfortunately for you, like xyph said, PHP Freaks exists to help coders.  Since you're lacking even the basic fundamentals of how the web itself works, we cannot help you.  Your best bet is to hire a professional before you mess up your own system.