Forum Moderators: mack
Hey,
I'm a jack of all trades type of guy. I am familiar with quite a few areas of computer graphics, the creative arts, and I have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. Being involved in computer graphics, I am more or less comfortable with Adobe programs, including GoLive. I am a quick learner and willing to learn what I need to know.
On to the question. I am involved in a strong idealistic volunteer organization with an emphasis on education. We have volunteers doing more or less the same work in hundreds of locations throughout the world. I am trying to address the issue of wasted manpower in that everyone develops their own materials, and reinvents the wheel - there is little or no networking between the people doing the work.
My solution is to create a website where people can submit content to be posted and downloaded, as well as a forum where issues can be discussed. In order to cut back on clutter and keep the forums focused and the material within the organization, I would set the site up to be by-invite only.
I have a very clear idea of how the website will be set up, and will provide that information if it's relevent.
I have built a few websites using HTML and CSS, some handcoded, and some with GoLive. Where are the steps I need to take to get from here to my goal? What would be the best way to go about building this site?
Like I said, I am willing to spend the time learning what I need to know, but using free or low-cost solution works for me, and I would appreciate whatever tips and headstarts you can offer me.
Many thanks in advance for your help,
Fardak
You are to be commended for doing the volunteer work for the agency.
The only advice I have to offer you is probably something you already know:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
You already have the knowledge you need to start. So start.
When you get into a jam, check back here and someone can dig you out.
Good luck with it!
For reasons or efficiency I would still prefer if someone would give me a general idea about what would be involved in getting this done, and what would be the best way to go about doing it.
I can do the main page and download area with HTML, but I am sure there is a way to do set it up which would not require writing code every time you want to add a file to the download.
The one thing which I really have no idea how to go about is setting up the site so that anything beyond the first page is only accessible with a password. Help in that area would be appreciated.
A forum area would obviously be some sort of software, either free or low-cost, because I know I am nowhere near the skill level needed to create my own.
Again, thanks in advance for your replies.
The one thing which I really have no idea how to go about is setting up the site so that anything beyond the first page is only accessible with a password.
If you are running on a Linux system have a look at .htpasswd and .htaccess as this may help. I'd probably do this by putting everything other than the 1st page into a different directory that is protected by the aforesaid files.
Just a thought, how will people find out about the site if the only things the engines are able to read is the 1st page?
John
My site is for support of families who adopt foster children and hopefully one NON-governemental place where we can safely address some of the serious issues we face.
I turned on my own computer the first time on 3/23/05 and have learned a Million things since that day! It has been an ongoing journey with one step at a time. I have rebuilt and changed my site at least a million times...spent the whole night working on something and found out the next morning that there was a much easier way I could have done all that!
It really is one step at a time and there is support for our efforts to develop and learn at nearly every step along the way.
I say...just start walking and see where you end up.
Anna
I picked up a book on PHP and MySQL, and as I understand it, that's what I need to set up the member's only feature. Does anyone have any tips or comments?
I checked this all out with the forum my host has and talked with other members. Once I knew that I had the correct service and that others on my host had no issues. I needed to learn a few things myself in order to do it.
I needed to learn to FTP upload rather then use my hosts file manager and I needed to find an FTP provider which was simple and I found for free.
Otherwise, it was not much more difficult then learning regular HTLM except that I find it a lot more difficult to make adjustments to simple things like the header. That is likely due to the fact that I am new to this kind of code and transfer as I had been using a basic file manager to create my pages.
I have enjoyed learning to to an php forum and it does offer a great deal of control to me over who is able to use it and at what level access they can have.
I think that if a middle aged woman who was unable to even turn a computer on 6 months ago can manage what I have anyone should be able to! It just has a learning curve and takes a few hours and a late night or two!
Good Luck,
Anna
Good Luck,
Anna
