Forum Moderators: phranque
I want to know the current best path to make the updating of a big website, after it is finished, seemlessly automated, to minimize webmastering later on. I fully understand no website can run without a webmaster, but I mean to have it automated in such a way that webmastering is minimized, or for instance, not requiring a big number of webmasters.
The website should have a big archive or database of text articles, a fairly big database of audio files, a smaller archive of images, periodical polls with an archive of past polls, and forums.
The main question is: how do I make the updating of the main page of the website, and the main page of each of those sections (articles, audio files, images, polls), each updated automatically, after a certain number of articles (1 to 3 for instance), audio files, and images are added by the publishers (who have permission to add those items).
I want to make the process *kind of* what happens in today's Blogs. The publisher only has to type the article or add the picture, and the server itself takes care of the rest, archiving one article for each new article posted, and showing the newest items at the main page. But the difference here is that the main page of the website, should only show the links to the new items, maybe with the first 2 or 3 lines of an article, and small thumbnails of the images, and a caption or description of the audio files. Then, when a visitor digs deeper, inside the articles section for instance, the newest 1-3 articles shows up in the main page, while the older ones are archived in an orderly fashion to the sidebar.
All this may not be that difficult at all, using PHP, for instance. But I also want to go one step further, and make all the items in the website: articles, images, audio files, searchable and sortable using complex queries; slightly resembling the concepts behind the Semantic Web [w3.org]. Of course, given that the items were submitted properly, filling all the necessary details that can make each item searchable and sortable--with other items--using those complex queries. I also want each and every item in the website, article, audio file, and image, to be search-engine friendly and easily crawled by SE's.
I'm not sure if this is a PHP or a CMS question, or a mix of both, or related to other things. And this is why I'm asking it in the Webmaster General section. I would extremely appreciate a clear, helpful, and a little detailed answer or advice, guiding me to what I should study and learn, and also to what technologies or solutions I can purchase for a project like this, to save time, until one can develop the whole solution him/herself.
Thanks a million for anyone taking the time to help, give advice and tips.
Many CMS's like PHPNuke, Postnuke and Mambo have *tons* of add-on modules available. It just might be that what you are looking for has already been written.
Here is a good place to start - google for 'open source cms' and click the first listing. On that site you can test-drive a default installion of all the major open-source cms's. Take 'em for a spin!
There is another thread in this very forum that may interest you: [webmasterworld.com...]
There are a lot great cms applications available online to help you get started. If you prefer to "get the job done" and concentrate on conducting business as usual, purchasing cms software is a certainly a great way to get started.
For me personally, I've always found that somewhere down the line, these pre-built cms applications just don't do what "I" want them to.
If your in it for the "love of the game" and "work" is still a four letter word, build your own!
It's NOT the easiest way to go. In fact it's probably the hardest. A lot depends on your character [ and the character of your spouse when your computer is more often than not, being referenced to every known four letter word known to mankind].
I must admit, I'm a bad control freak. I want control over all of it. I run my own web server, email server, domain name server, etc. I want to know how it works and why. If it breaks, I want to know how "I" can fix it. If I want it to do something different, I'm not going to pay someone else to do what I'm more than capable of doing! But, for me, I WANT to know. No harm either way.
I'm a very strong promoter for database programming. For me it's worse than an addiction.. it's the "Power of the almighty" when it comes to making my website act and feel they way I want it to. I could literally fill hundreds of pages with the benefits it can provide!
With the current development tools and knowledge bases available online today, 95%+ complete automation is more than possible for what you would like to accomplish.
The rest depends on you. How much time do you have. Can you really stand another "addiction"? Is there a CMS application out there that does what YOU need? If so, why re-invent the wheel?
If not! Do you smoke? :))
Here's a decent middle ground that I'm currently doing myself: peruse the various CMSs (PHP based) and pick one that seems to feature most or many of the things you want. Then spend some time picking that CMS apart. DIg down into the PHP include files and see what functions are doing what things, what calls in the source code are supplying what information, and where in the database that information is being stored. Spend some time figuring out how the features you like are implemented by others more knowledgeable than yourself.
It's a great way not only to learn the PHP functionality that you will be using, but eventually you end up being able to knit together your own CMS, with full knowledge of how it's working.
And yes, indeed, PHP is one of the few coding scripts/languages out there that can become addictive and also fun. :)
Now that I know the words CMS and PHP are definitely related to the core of this issue, maybe called "automation" and organization of a website, however, I'd like to know if there are any other technologies, scripts, programming languages, or something along the same lines, which can be remotely related to this issue. Maybe to make the website itself in the end future-proof, so to speak. So the possible upgrade to an XML website can be easy stuff, just for example.
When I mentioned XML, I meant to upgrade the pure XHTML bits to XML. I heard more than once before that the web may upgrade from using X/HTML to using XML in the not so far future. As in, all new browsers would support it, and it would become a full web recommendation, and only XHTML may be allowed for a while, until it, too, becomes deprecated, just like we have many deprecated HTML tags today. And to summarize, in the end, one would be using XML, PHP, CSS, and MySQL to manage a whole website for instance, getting ready for so called RDF and OWL recommendations, in turn, to get ready for the Semantic Web.
You know, I never used to be an Anti-Microsoft. And I don't know if wishing I can give up my "good ol'" Windows ASAP for Linux, and wishing I can ditch using MS Outlook for Thunderbird+MozillaCalender ASAP, and wishing Macromedia will develop all its programs for Linux ASAP, all make me an Anti-Microsoft, but at least I like Xbox more than PS2 (even though I own neither and don't intend to buy either, too busy and ambitious for that).
However, I think Microsoft is losing it, and becoming too full of it. They've been full of hubris for so many years, for example with IE, ever after they beat the heck out of Netscape's browsers in the market. But where is this getting them today? Firefox is catching up pretty fast, and I'm loving it.
And since I became a coder and in love with web standards and its message (even though I still have my reservations against W3C as an organization), I've despised many MS products for the amount of non-standards-compliant code and deprecated tags that they splatter all over our web. ASP.net happens to be one of those products that splatters those tags [webstandards.org] (and even MORE [webstandards.org] about it if interested enough), making the lives of developers and coders who want to stick to standards SO much harder. And, of course, every web-standards coder out there knows the nightMARES of IE, to make a simple CSS look the same on IE as ALL other browsers out there in the market, because, unfortunately, IE still has the biggest market share in browsers. Heck, even something as MS Outlook spits deprecated tags in the source of a simple email when you're composing an HTML email!
I really liked Win2000 back then, and I was one of the few people who were defending WinXP years ago when it first came out, too. But you know what? I think it's "Too Late, Microsoft, Too Late!"...an article, which--God willing--I will write soon, about how Microsoft was so full of it for too long, and got all caught up with non-priorities for so long, that the new rules of the web may VERY well play a harsh game against it in the not-so-far future.
And finally, long live PHP, long live Linux, and long live Open Source.
Just my..."2 cents"? Ok, I'm sometimes generous with tips, I admit! :7
[edited by: Woz at 3:02 am (utc) on Nov. 19, 2004]
[edit reason] No politics please. [/edit]
I was merely providing a personal opinion to another alternative, as requested by your previous post: "I'd like to know if there are any other technologies, scripts, programming languages, or something along the same lines, which can be remotely related to this issue. Maybe to make the website itself in the end future-proof, so to speak."
Had you stated "No MicroShaft Products Please" I would have withheld it.
For me, the purpose of these particular types of forums is to share ideas, knowledge, and opinions. Not debates.
I don't judge companies or their products based upon other people’s opinions or experiences. If what they offer works for me great, if not I'll find one that does. It's all good.
[edited by: Woz at 3:03 am (utc) on Nov. 19, 2004]
[edit reason] No politics please. [/edit]
Thanks, again. But when I choose my products or solutions, I don't only think about what will work best from a utilitarian perspective--NOT that I'm saying you do this, but from a practical perspective plus a humanitarian perspective. Lately, I've been trying to get accustomed to use open-source software and the cheapest solutions possible, which indeed sometimes do the job *better* than many commercial solutions out there, whether offered by MS or any other company. This practice can help me become knowledgeable enough about such solutions, and in turn, teach or make others from poor countries--and people living in them--use these free or cheap solutions. This can empower these countries to become a bit stronger, and thus create a balance in the world, which can put a corporation like MS out of the "monopoly" in IT, and put an army like the U.S. army out of the "monopoly" on "going-where-I-please" (last comment can be be edited off by mod if too offensive).
All due respect to fellow Americans. I still love 49% of them, and this brain in my head is teeming with American culture and products; I graduated at an American high school myself. Sorry to stray out of subject, but I owed you a clarification, and to not take an apology from you, and also hopefully convince others of choosing PHP instead of...whatever else.
