page.php - a page template - that retrieves pageheading and content from the database based on the querystring pageID
I guess I need a database table containing pageID (pkey auto inc), page heading (ntext), content(ntext)
pagemanager.php - a page to display a list of pages existing in the database
insertpage.php - a page to insert a new page into the database, using FCKeditor to edit the text / upload files and images.
updatepage.php - a page to update pages.
Password protection for the admin side of things.
I’m new to php but I want to try to build this thing from the ground up rather than using something premade like drupal- i don’t need the functionality. I’m making a very simple site and want to learn.
Can anyone lead me in the right direction for tutorials / advice on where to start concerning my project.
Hi, awelch
You’ve got good aim.
It is a good way to learn things. You can have your CMS just in a few lines of code.
I’d suggest to start from insertpage.php, then proceed to pagemanager.php, then to updatepage.php (after you notice it is pretty same with insertpage.php, you most likely join em into one) and to the page.php at the end.
let’s make insertpage.php of two parts: a form and a handler.
insertform.php will contain an html form and insertpage.php as simple code as this (if you choose MySQL):
<?PHP
$table="cms";
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']=='POST') {
$heading=mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['heading']);
$content=mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['content']);
$query="INSERT INTO `$table` SET heading='$heading',$content='content'";
mysql_query($query) or trigger_error(mysql_error());
header("Location: http://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']."/admin/pagemanager.php");
exit;
}
?>
note /admin/pagemanager.php. i assume it will be place for it, and after you insert page, you must be relocated to manager page.
This is a good start rather than using open source CMS. I find it easier to do my own CMS than using open source as I have control over the flow of my codes. Besides it’s very painful to dissect other people’s codes. It took me almost 2 months to grasp core files of Wordpress and almost 5 months on Joomla. I have to admit most of my CMS functions comes from wordpress, Joomla and vbulletin
As a start you need to learn basic mysql queries , update, insert, delete, select. tizag.com is good place to learn basics, very straight forward tuts
You may also need a text editor. I love fckeditor www.ckeditor.com
and last a templating system. I always use btemplate more lightweight than smarty www.massassi.com/bTemplate/
but a lot of people in the comments were complaining that the guy’s code wasn’t very good.
I understand how he has create a class with a bunch of functions to do different things, and I like that approach and could continue hopefully to extend it to include update, delete, (by pageID) etc etc.
I wantt to know if anyone has looked at the guy’s code and would care to comment?
Is it worth me learning and adapting his code and method or would it be better to take a dif approach?
Can anyone lead me in the right direction for tutorials / advice on where to start concerning my project.
Ok, you are doing this not only because you want to learn-practice php & Mysql… then as your goal is your CMS I suggest you to:
Plan things ahead to avoid future problems
Plan your cms around security
Make it portable and simple (you will need that in the future)
Focus on RECOVERY and MIGRATION. Many of us webmaster have faced servers down and migrations from one company to another, plan your cms around this, you will need it.
Keep in mind TEMPLATE features. Build your cms around this feature allowing you to use different templates with one click or modifying your prefs, instead of building it around a page that build itself making the requests.
I have made cms myself for my private use. Nothing to envy to the other cms!!! in fact mine are little apps with all the functionality without needing 3MB of code.
You might also want to check out the Sitepoint book “Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL”. It covers how to use PHP, MySQL and how to begin making a CMS.
Thats a great idea, i created my first cms about 5 years ago. Even if you don’t make a successful one you will learn soo much. You can then take that code with you in the future, and improve upon it.
This is so interesting.
I have always hand coded and just recently have been employed at a place that uses Joomla. I am not going to knock Joomla as it’s great for what it is but I am used to starting a site from a blank textpad and adding only what I need as I go.
With Joomla its the other way around, you get too much code that you dont need and you spend ages sifting through it all.
If you want to modify any code you have to jump through a few hoops to find where it is or you might have to change stuff in more then one spot just to do a simple task. I spend more time in Joomla looking for stuff than I do anything else.
Anyway just hand coding what you want straight away is much easier.
If you want to start your website by CMS software, use any one of the following as per your requirement.
DBPrism – first open source CMS based on Oracle XMLDB repository. Flux CMS – XML/XSLT based, easy to use, extensible and suitable for developers to fill specific needs. Freephpcms – easy to use, extensible and suitable for developers to fill specific needs. Apache Lenya – Java/XML based CMS that comes with revision control, multi-site management, scheduling, and workflow. Rubricks – CMS for Ruby on Rails fans, boasts simplicity and speed. Clever Copy – A scalable website portal and news posting system. Fundanemt – focused on usability and aimed at small and medium sized websites. Dragonfly CMS – feature-rich open source content management system, based on PHP-Nuke 6. Joomla - – popular, award-winning CMS that will help you build powerful online applications. Silva – built on top of Zope, enables you to export to Word, stream media, store content as XML, and manage hierarchical and traditional websites. YACS – build your online blogging communities. ContentNOW – simple to use, flexible, multilanguage, modular CMS.
I am going to start something like this also. One of the earlier replies talked about being security-minded. Can somebody maybe powst some tips what to consider/keywords to search for or links to articles that cover it?
Instead of writing the CMS from scratch. I recommend using an open-source CMS. This can be Joomla, Wordpress, or Drupal. The article “Which CMS is best” talks about all three. I would go with either Joomla or Wordpress.
