Site feature requires programming

Nulty

Hi folks,

I'm just recently versed in html and css and am learning php and then mysql. I'm building a site and the main feature is this:

I want to have users login to their accounts (can figure that one out myself I reckon). In their accounts I want them to be able to directly embed their personal YouTube videos in their profile on my site.

They will then label each of their videos to match one of about 6 categories. The addition of the label will then automagically post their video in the category section of the site. This will be the case for all members and the categories section will fill in this way.

How would you do it? Language, tools, etc? What would I need to do it?

Thanks

John_Mc

You'll need a Users table in the database to allow them login. Each user account will have a UserID as the primary key. Create a second table for the movies, it should have a text field for the Youtube embed string, an integer for the UserID (configured as the forgeign key to users), and then another column for the category. I would suggest you store your categories in another table and put the CategoryId in the movies table.

You should have no problems doing this with PHP and MySql.

Good luck with it

bobbytables

Hey OP, what's the purpose of this application / website?

Also +1 for PHP & MySQL. I would suggest however that you first familiarize yourself with software & database design principles. For example you could throw out a description of the system you want to build and several people here (myself included) could present to you how we might design it, and they (the designs) will probably all differ to some extent.

Doing this stuff isn't all about knowing languages and writing the code, design is very important. If this is something that you plan on releasing to the public, you will have to consider many other non-functional requirements such as security, etc. How are you going to reliably authenticate & authorize users?, for example.

Best of luck

Nulty

Thanks for the replies guys!

I've got WAMP installed and the basic syntax of PHP down.

@ bobby_tales

The purpose is to bring fingerstyle guitar videos together in one site. the YouTube thing is so I don't have to host the videos my self. I want the users to be able to click a button on my site which will open a 'link' to their YouTube account so they don't have to manually embed their videos.

It's got to be easy, the same way as all the social networking sites are becoming linked.

Security is the biggest issue I'm likely to face I think. I've read about creating Login feastures and how coding it your self, if your new to it all, is like going to bed with the front door wide open!

And to be honest, I haven't thought to design the architecture of the database yet. What would entail "a description of the system"?

Much appreciated!

John_Mc

That's very true. ASP.net comes with a Membership and Roles provider that provides all of this functionality out of the box. Might be worthwhile looking into if you're only starting to learn PHP.

Nulty

John_Mc wrote: »

That's very true. ASP.net comes with a Membership and Roles provider that provides all of this functionality out of the box. Might be worthwhile looking into if you're only starting to learn PHP.

And whats the catch?

John_Mc

Nulty wrote: »

And whats the catch?

It's a Micro$oft propriety language meaning it's going to be slightly more expensive to host (but not too much). The IDE and database are free if you use the express versions which are perfectly adequate.

There are a fair amount of UI's that allow you to add functionality without having to write code. Loads of tutorials, videos and samples on the asp.net website

Check it out, http://www.asp.net

Nulty

Going down the ASP route, will that enhance my knowledge of scripting languages? And will learning ASP make PHP easier when I tackle it head on?

I guess I'm asking will going the ASP route help me understand the security issues of databases for future projects and will the experience stand to me when I try scripting manually?

Also I've read about IIS servers. Is it recommended with ASP.NET?

Private Joker

Would you consider a cms like drupal?

John_Mc

Nulty wrote: »

Going down the ASP route, will that enhance my knowledge of scripting languages? And will learning ASP make PHP easier when I tackle it head on?

I guess I'm asking will going the ASP route help me understand the security issues of databases for future projects and will the experience stand to me when I try scripting manually?

Well ASP.net is also a scripting language, but it will not make you any better at PHP. Since programming is really just a way of thinking, you'll have more of an idea how to approach problems but not what syntax to use.

Why are you determined to use PHP? Why not try building your entire solution using ASP.net?

The membership and roles providers that come with ASP.net are pretty much black boxes in that you dont see how they work (although you'd get a fair idea if you read through the documentation). The idea is that you just configure them in your config file and they'll work with your database. It can all be done using mouse clicks and very little coding.

I would not advise going ahead with ASP.net unless you intend on delivering the whole solution with it.

Nulty

Understood.

My aim is to be able to do these thing manually eventually. If I start the site with Asp.Net I intend to finish with it. I just want to be able to build my own scripts in the future. But thats a topic for another day. My priority is the site for now.

Have you any tips you could share when it comes to designing/ creating a site like I've mentioned?

John_Mc

Nulty wrote: »

Understood.

My aim is to be able to do these thing manually eventually. If I start the site with Asp.Net I intend to finish with it. I just want to be able to build my own scripts in the future. But thats a topic for another day. My priority is the site for now.

Have you any tips you could share when it comes to designing/ creating a site like I've mentioned?

There are great tutorials on the ASP.net website covering everything you'll need to do for your website. I found this website very helpful when I started having to get the Login working.

I'd say you could have a login system up and running within a day. Try it yourself and then build on top of it by looking up how to bind data to a gridview control. These are easy tasks but you'll begin to see how ASP.net works.

I find it easier to do this stuff manually in the code behind but the UI's seem to be handy enough. One step at a time and you'll be flying it within a few weeks ;-)

Nulty

Private Joker wrote: »

Would you consider a cms like drupal?

I would rather get my hands dirty at the beginning before getting too comfortable with cms. Obviously, with security, no concessions can be made but working with a scripting language is my ultimate goal.

By the way, will ASP.NET work well with my Apache server or should I run IIS?

km991148

Nulty wrote: »

By the way, will ASP.NET work well with my Apache server or should I run IIS?

There are ways to get asp.net going in apache, but IIS if available to you will be hassle free (er!)

If you get the MS dev tools (the free web developer etc) they come with a build in developer server for debugging on the local machine, so initially you wont need any other web server;

Evil Phil

You'll need to run Asp.NET on IIS. There is an implementation for Apache but go with the Microsoft solution is my advice. After all Asp.NET is their technology.

Just to clarify a couple of things:
Asp and Asp.NET are very different technologies. While Asp is scripted Asp.NET isn't. The latter is compiled, yes to intermediate code, but compiled all the same.

<edit>
Now I not familiar with every host provider in the world but I've never had to pay extra for Asp.NET hosting. The additional expense usually (for me) comes from using Sql Server.

techguy

+1 on PHP and MySQL.

I also agree that the overall system design is very important. What you need to do first is sit down and write out a list of "business rules". This basically involves writing down all the things that the website will offer to all users of the website.

From this you can think about the data that needs to be stored and how it is related.

I made a site similar to this last year for uploading and sharing photos. The DB design would be quite similar as would the PHP for registering/logging in/adding photos etc..

The site is available @ home.conorhackett.com/iflicks. PM me if you want any more details such as DB schema and PHP.

Also, if people will be uploading video to youtube you may want to take a look at http://www.vimeo.com/ too. I find the service to much better and the video quality remains a lot higher. The quality of comments from viewers is much higher too..

--techguy.

I recommend that you hand code the whole thing from scratch to allow you to learn PHP. But, you could also look at using CodeIgniter which is an MVC framework. It basically splits up the design and backend programming which makes maintenance and modification easier.