Final Year Project help

[zc_squash]

Hi all,

 

Truth to be told, i'm as new as new can be to PHP and MySQL. So new that actually i haven't build any PHP website. I have adequte knowledge of HTML and i've done programming in C and currently learning Java on my own. Also i do have experience with SQL.

 

I have given an option to suggest any title (so long it is approve by my supervisor) and build a website using PHP and MySQL. Since i have got no knowledge about PHP and MySQL, i'm unsure if the topic i'd suggest is plausible or not.

 

Anyway i have this on my mind: I wanna build a site that contains news, reviews, previews, etc of numerous topics like Games, Music, Sports, etc. Underneath the hood of this site i would wanna build a Content Management System that allows users registration, sending newsletter upon request, adding comments to news or reviews and maybe some other functions.

 

What do you experienced PHP and MySQL coders think? How hard would it be? I'll have to learn from scratch really. And the project is to due 9-10 months from now. I guess that's ample if i were to really work my butt off.

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. By the way i think i'm in the best site to start learning PHP and MySQL =)

 

Cheers.

 

 

[smc]

Well I created a website modleded for news after Foxnews.com/Cnn.com which featured all of the functions your talking about. The HTML coding took me about a week and the PHP coding took me two weeks. At that point in time I had a passing farmiliarity with PHP but was far from fluent, this website helped me out a lot while I was learning.

 

If your intrested in actually learning the language and developing the site on your own we'd be glad to help you when you hit bumps along the way.

[obsidian]

I think the idea is very plausible for the time frame you cite. I would also cast my vote that this is a rather noble goal to achieve if you are indeed starting from the ground up. There are a ton of different things to consider when dealing with all the different categories you have mentioned, and security is but one of them.

[zc_squash]

Speaking about security, i thought of letting it loose at the moment. Prolly when i have set it up completely (in the sense that the newsletter, registration, etc thingy working flawlessly) i would consider about security. But anyway what im speaking of here is i will leave all the comments unmoderated at time being.

 

What other security concerns you suggest i look into?

 

But before all these, may i know what do i need to configure beforehand? I know i need a webserver which i have not choosen yet but a friend of mine recommended Abyss Server as it is easier to be configured. I'm running Windows XP SP 2 and i have Firefox as my default web browser. And i do have plan to use Dreamweaver as my editor. Any better suggestion? Kindly just point me to a link would do.

 

Thank you for the quick replies =)

[zc_squash]

Ok just an add-on.

 

I know i do need something like an smtp server for the newsletter to work. Any tutorial on this?

 

And also, because i will have to demonstrate the final outcome to my supervisor, how do i actually transfer everything (all the neccessary files like the database, configuration of webserver, etc) from my PC to the one in my Uni for demostration purpose?

 

Sorry for all the beginner's questions but i do want to clarify everything first before i commit myself. It is afterall a 10-month project and i do not want to give up doing half way =(

[Dragen]

If you use a local server on your computer such as wamp, then I believe you should be able to save it all to a disk or external hard-drive and transfer it all.

You may have to install wamp on their computer though to run it, but if they're moderating many php built sites they should have the necessary programs to run a server already installed on their computer.

[obsidian]

IMHO, the easiest way to develop on a Windows box is to set up the WAMP server (Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP). It installs and is running within minutes, and if you configure your apache and PHP installs to match your host, you can make a seamless transition when the time comes. I like it because it even sets up your phpMyAdmin install and all for you. It also supports SqlLite if you prefer.

[zc_squash]

Thank you again.

 

I think i have gathered necessary information for now. The following weeks/months would be self-study on PHP and MySQL. But will need to setup my rig properly 1st though. Might need to check with you guys again should i bump into difficulties setting up my PC. Anyway, still considering which webserver i should work on. WAMP might be a good setup. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

At the moment i'm more worried about implementing the newsletter module. There's a tutorial about it i see in the main page, i checked it out but obviously i couldn't understand a thing now LOL.

 

Looks like there's a lot to be done. Understanding the rudimentary of PHP and then MySQL. Looking foward for the challenges ahead though.

 

By the way, have anyone here done similar website that offers features i mentioned? Would be glad if i could talk to you directly. I could be contacted via MSN or Yahoo! Messenger at zc_squash@yahoo/hotmail.com

 

Bunch of thanks!

[smc]

My suggestion to you is start with user registration. This is needed for login and authentication so you can post articles, send newsletters, etc. Primarily, though, this gives a very simple, easy, and gentle introduction into MySQL/PHP integration and will help you develop a solid PHP coding foundation.

 

I also agree with those above, definitly go WAMP.

 

Good luck!

[black.horizons]

well having just build the same thing, it took me six months. but that was on and off. probably could squeeze that down to 2 months work - staying up to 4am on some occassions....

 

you won't need an smtp server for the mail - provided you use an online server, and just use the php mail() function.

 

www.annadale.co.uk - that was it.

[per1os]

A few tips from someone else's mistakes.

 

1. Code for international and multi language using UTF-8 it will save you hassle later on.

2. Sanitize input correctly.

   

<?php
    /*
       Usage: $data = $_POST['data'];
       Reqs: Requires mysql_connect to be initiated before use.
   */
    function real_escape($string) {
       return  get_magic_quotes_gpc()?mysql_real_escape_string(stripslashes($string)):mysql_real_escape_string($string);
     }
?>
    

 

3. Security is vital, it sucks to have everything coded and than have to go back and make "corrections" because you did not choose to code for security first. You can always manipulate the functions and make them just return true for development reasons.

 

 

Anyhow for the time period, it should be an easy task. Just keep the above in mind.

[zc_squash]

I will not want to publish the site first, and i wouldn't know if it would be publish at all. The website would be mainly for the FYP purpose. My PC would be the webserver itself. So in that case i reckon i do need an SMTP server?

 

And oh, ur site looks great =)

 

Thank you frost110 for your reminder. The thing now is, i'm too new to this i do not even know what security concerns i would need to look into. Probably these?:

 

1. moderating comments

2. user password recovery

 

Hmmm, i dont really understand these security issues.

[black.horizons]

security issues involve more validating user input - what you've stated there is more admin - like removing "bad words" posts...and helping a user get back into the system.

 

by validating input we mean - not allowing people to use queries to access things on your site by putting the MySQL query into the URL.

 

or by making sure if they're selecting a news article that if it doesn't exist - you site does something silly like implode - rather it shows the user that the news article they've hacked for doesn't work and their time would be better served elsewhere.

 

best thing to remember is to code for every eventuality - it saves a lot of hassle later.

 

since it looks like you haven't much notion with PHP i suggest "googling" a tutorial on logins first - that's what i started with - and saves soo much hassle later, as the login check will need to be implemented on nearly every page, and all i had to do was to add an included php file

 

it'll be sure to serve you a return on lovely things like sessions, which can be hard to understand at first, best thing to do is follow the tutorial, then start your own from scratch when you get your head round how it works.

[zc_squash]

security issues involve more validating user input - what you've stated there is more admin - like removing "bad words" posts...and helping a user get back into the system.

 

by validating input we mean - not allowing people to use queries to access things on your site by putting the MySQL query into the URL.

 

or by making sure if they're selecting a news article that if it doesn't exist - you site does something silly like implode - rather it shows the user that the news article they've hacked for doesn't work and their time would be better served elsewhere.

 

best thing to remember is to code for every eventuality - it saves a lot of hassle later.

 

since it looks like you haven't much notion with PHP i suggest "googling" a tutorial on logins first - that's what i started with - and saves soo much hassle later, as the login check will need to be implemented on nearly every page, and all i had to do was to add an included php file

 

it'll be sure to serve you a return on lovely things like sessions, which can be hard to understand at first, best thing to do is follow the tutorial, then start your own from scratch when you get your head round how it works.

 

Thank you black.horizon for shedding some light on me =)

 

From the positive feedback i received i think i would go ahead with the project and start writing my proposal in the next 24 hours. You guys here have been a great help.

 

And i would keep that in mind - start understanding user registration/login first.

 

Thanks all again. Would be back should i have any more problems or ideas to share =)

[zc_squash]

Just so i have a better idea, how tough would it be to allow a registered user to comment on a specific post?

 

As i have got no PHP and MySQL knowledge yet, i thought of it very generally and it seems to me it is a very tedious process. I would first need to create a database to store all users comments. Then, to create a comment form, follows by a whole lot of verification processes. And then presenting an update of the page (a page with a newly submitted comment).

 

Are there any existing tutorials where i can look into them first? At least i have some rough idea.

 

At the moment i'm more concern about the database design as it would be something i could not 'see'. I do not know how complicated the codes would be for the comment form.

 

Thank you all =)

[AndyB]

... i thought of it very generally and it seems to me it is a very tedious process. I would first need to create a database to store all users comments. Then, to create a comment form, follows by a whole lot of verification processes. And then presenting an update of the page (a page with a newly submitted comment).

 

All of which is much less than a day's work, even allowing for the occasional beer break.

[legohead6]

my learning of php started with same way, with a faint objective to work towards, since i didnt work on it much its taken while but its almost done now, personally i think setting website objectives is the best way to learn.

 

http://www.zelocalz.com

[zc_squash]

All of which is much less than a day's work, even allowing for the occasional beer break.

 

LOL i wish i could tackle it with such a laid back manner. But prolly it would get much easier than what it seems to me now as i start learning. You guys have been a great help.

 

And oh, i did have a clear requirements of what my site is suppose to do so i guess that itself its a good start already?

 

Anyway, thanks again guys. Will be back should i need help =) and hopefully the day will come when i can actually start contributing to the community.

 

Cheers.

[rcorlew]

Check into database normalization, as mysql has many date, time, mathematical functions it supports natively to make your coding life much easier.

 

Nothing like saving keystrokes to make life easier.