Forum Moderators: coopster
I'm new to php programming, so warning - stupid question coming up.
I'm making a review site about a beverage. I'm writing up reviews on these beverages I like and don't like. To help visitors find the specific beverage they may/may not like, I'm setting up pages that break down the beverage by manufacturer (who makes it/who imports it), the "taste characteristics" (mint taste/chocolate taste/etc...), my own ranking on it (1 - 5 stars), and the broad "type" of beverage it is (there are seven distinct types of this beverage).
The site is a php/mysql site...but, I abhor the limitations of content management sites. So, the review itself is handcoded into the page. All other elements either use php includes or, for the ads, use MySQL. In short, the pages are sort of a hybrid dynamic/static page.
Each "review" of this particular beverage will have the various categories it belongs to listed at the bottom of the review. Generally, a minimum of 5 categories will be listed. Links will be provided back to each of the category landing pages so visitors can find other beverages that are similar to the one they just read. Thus, a typical category tag for a review might go like this (all will be links obviously) :
Manufacturer ¦ Four Star Beverage ¦ Mint Beverage ¦ Chocolate Beverage ¦ Broad Beverage "Type"
Now here's the dilemma. If I can't figure out how to set this up dynamically, I'll have to modify EACH category landing page everytime I add a new review of this beverage. I can see where this would be a huge pain in the you know what, not to mention a massive time killer.
So, here's my question. How can I set up these categories dynamically. Basically, what I need to do is to somehow be able to quickly and easily enter the categories a particular beverage review belongs to, which in turn will then automatically update ALL category landing pages.
This strikes me as something fairly easy to do but have yet to get my head around how to do it!
Also, I guess I don't mind if this is a two step process. First write the review, set up the dynamic ad code and then upload it. Then for the second step, logging into someplace where I enter the categories via a TextArea/Form. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to set up something like this!
Thanks for any help
Jim
I guess you should have :
1/ One database for category and sub-category (a parent-child relationship)
2/ One database for beverage (with a field that link to sub-category ID)
3/ One database for review (with a field that link to beverage ID).
The hardest part will be to climb-up the parent-child database using recursive function.
Right now I've just set up a database with one little table in it - which holds the ads I run for various books.
Otherwise, the database is empty.
Jim
Good luck
