PHP Extension Support Question

A non-webmaster needs help - do I need to rebuild my site?

[brynyc]

Although I now have a really nice site - I need to add more pages, design and programming work. My programmer/designer has disappeared off the face of the earth! I am hosting with verio. Someone got into my site and deleted some coding - I had it fixed by another design/hosting company whom were on-the-ball (verio was of little help). I decided to change my site over to this new server so that they can complete the site work I need; however, there was a problem with coding so it wasn't a matter of simply transferring the site over - okay go ahead I'll pay for the changeover but now after reviewing and disassembling the web site for the past week they found that the web site uses a database library called "PEAR" which stands for "PHP Extension and Application Repository". Unfortunately they do not support this library on our shared servers. They suggest that I rebuild the site to avoid future problems. I want to make sure I am heading in the right direction, and not backwards! Any suggestions? I have gone through 2 web designers, 2 programmers, $$$ -I need this site competed ASAP. I don't mind rebuilding if it is necessary. WHAT is the advantage of this PEAR databasing anyway?
P.S> It is really tough to find an all-in-one good designer/programmer/hosting service!
Thanks

[edited by: brynyc at 11:23 pm (utc) on Mar. 7, 2004]

[RonPK]

> What is the advantage of PEAR anyway?

"PEAR is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components." It is a set of scripts that provide often used, basic functionality (there's a list at [pear.php.net...] ). All a programmer needs to do is call one of the scripts, and customize the output (well, basically). Saves a lot of work.

From what I understand of [pear.php.net...] , it is possible to use PEAR on a virtual hosting account on a shared server. Maybe an expert can confirm this...

[coopster]

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but it should indeed be possible to run PEAR on any server with PHP installed, it's just that some hosting providers have elected not to do so.

The least expensive route would be to install PEAR, even if it is in your own user space (if your provider allows this). This would save any rewriting of software, which in turn saves dollars.