New project > PHP the way to go??

[arumdevil]

Hi All,

 

I am fairly new to the forum, and fairly new to php also, though I have a fair amount of xhtml/css experience, and some basic coding knowledge (in AppleScript, but I got many of the principals from that).

 

So. I have been asked to set up a subscription based site offering media to subscribed members, specifically video and audio content.

 

Being a newbie to PHP, but someone who can certainly learn this sort of thing, do you think this is something I can realistically expect to be able to do in say, 6 to 12 months  (not full time) using PHP and building it myself, or is there something out there already (pref opensource) that will do the job better than me, that you would recommend..

 

I suppose key requirements are a secure payment system, linked to a member database. I would like for anyone to be able to browse the site, but members must be paid up and logged in to download/view media etc.

 

 

Any thoughts on this gratefully received.

 

ArumDeVil

[redbullmarky]

6 to 12 months is a long time, especially if you've got the knack and experience. once you get the basics down, the rest gets quite easy to pick up as you go along.

 

however, maybe you'd be good with a compromise. I learnt plenty of tricks and tips by getting under the bonnet and looking at the code of CMS's/Frameworks/forums, etc - so worth a shot. I'd recommend taking a look at Drupal as a pretty robust, open source and trusted CMS that uses PHP/MySQL.

[cyrixware]

yep if you want to learn more about this you can do that easily especially you have a knowledge already.

 

cheers,

 

Frederick

[s0c0]

PHP is pretty easy so its definitely a good option.  There are lots of books out there, I suggest PHP and MySQL Web Development.  I learned all the basics from that.  I don't want to fill your head with other possible languages as it will just make the decision that much harder, but there are definitely other options out there.  The plus side is PHP is support on both linux and windows platforms, its easy to learn, you don't need an expensive IDE to code in (anything text editor works), and there are lots of places to find answers to your questions.

[jchemie]

Well there are a lot of CMSs available on the internet for free. But it may not have all the functionallity you would like. I would suggest you to go through php language and once you are proficient with php and mysql building such a system would be a piece of cake.

 

Thanks

 

Jyot

[tobycatlin]

I think that 6 months is perfectly reasonable, especially if you have already done some programming.

 

Personally i would avoid pre-written CMS systems like Drupal. They allow you to get up and running very quickly but are a pain to modify when you need custom work done.

I would highly recommend getting the basics under your belt:

defining functions

defining classes

variable scope (global variables)

if statements

loops (while, foreach)

connecting to databases and modifying data in them

What text editor or IDE you like to use (I use zend studio or Ultraedit but there are many thread discussing this)

 

When you are happy with all this then get a well developed framework. I love code igniter at the moment. There are great video tutorials, plenty of documentation and the code is lean and powerful.

 

t