I found the helpful post in the sticky area of the forum, but I would like to ask the community for a little direction to help me effectively train myself so that I can create a website because the acronyms and terms are a bit overwhelming, and I am at a loss as to where to focus my study time. Obviously, hands on is always the best teacher, but clarification on where to concentrate that hands on time would be appreciated. Is PHP powerful enough to handle the following aspect of my web design. What I am attempting to do is create a website that provides algebra practice problems of various types. I do not want to create a giant database of algebra problems, but instead write code that will generate these problems (example and logic below). EXAMPLE & LOGIC TREE FOR CREATING PROBLEMS INVOLVING FACTORING: The user would be shown X^2 + 3X + 2, and (X + E)(X + F), where E and F would be input by the user [answer would be E=2, F=1, OR E=1, F=2, both are correct]. On the back end, to automatically generate problems like this a program must be written where E and F are random integers between -100 and 100. Then the program would need to find E+F and E*F to provide a new random problem presented to the user in the format X^2 + (E+F)*X + EF and asking the user to determine and enter E and F.
Any coding language will do the job, some will be easier than others. Without knowing your entire plan you could start with something like WordPress which means all your login, user management & security are taken care of (although WordPress needs to be kept up to date). You could then download the sample wordpress plugins that exist and write your own generator of equations with javascript to check that the hidden answer equals the one the user gives. That way you've learnt the php that you need without getting bogged down recreating the wheel.
Thank you so much. This directs me as to where I should concentrate my efforts. I am curious about advantages of Joomla and Drupal over WordPress. A godaddy tech informed me that WordPress was the easier program to learn, but easier usually translates into limiting. Is switching between CMS programs difficult once a site is developed?
Joomla and Drupal are crap. If you are going to learn PHP, LEARN PHP... don't use sluggish and easily hacked open source junk. Just my 2 cents. If you need to use open source, Wordpress is more stable and is far easier to secure and customize.
Thing is does the OP want to learn PHP or does the OP want to have an educational and interesting site about algebra. I suspect the latter, so while learning some PHP is essential if following the DIY approach there's no need to be too fussy.
As for certain CMS programs being junk, between hackers and the fact that users have a nasty habit of doing things programmers never planned, every program is in an endless loop of revision until it is shelved. For this reason, they are all junk in some respect or another. Your quasi-stamp of approval for WordPress now sinches the choice, thank you. Thank you again Sarahk for the 'quick and dirty' answer I was looking for with my post. It has allowed me to limit the subjects I need to study, and resources I need to purchase (i.e., WordPress, php, and javascript). The site envisioned would always be free, and never be about money which should hopefully eliminate a lot of security issues. I will not add ads, have a shopping cart, collect personal information (so no logging in), and the only input from a user accepted would be numeric answers to the various problems. Once the site is up the only changes I might consider would be new pictures. I planned on three types of problems: factoring, order of operation problems (currently up now with 4 static problems), and fractions. I designed the site so that it could be seen on a handheld device to kill time while waiting in lines. These are three areas of basic arithmetic that I as a university professor of mathematics found intolerable when college freshmen were lacking in these basic skills. It broke my heart to think 'what in the heck were these students doing for the past 13 years of their educational life!' I know students have a propensity to want to do the least to get through a class (I was a student too!), and only a diligent teacher will encourage/push them to rise to the occasion and make learning permanent, not just some fleeting memory after tests are passed.
WordPress might not be best suited for your needs. It is fine for a simple site, but if you want to provide some educational reading alongside these automatically generated formulas then Drupal is a very good option. It's possible to make it contextually aware and build relationships between content, so you can offer links to related content with very little manual effort (and it's automatically updated as you produce new content). I don't exactly mean something such as "related posts" - far more flexibility than that (think relational databases). If you were going to use logins, then you might also want to consider Moodle (an educational CMS). Going back to Drupal: there is also a Quiz module, Webform (which also has a module for mathematical formulas) and the more flexible Closed Question module. But none of them are (as far as I am aware) suitable for randomly generating a formula. Another approach could be randomly selecting an existing formula? (This is possible with the Views module.) Although regardless of solution that you choose (pure PHP, WordPress, Drupal or whatever), you will probably need a custom module to achieve what you need. It might even be that you could write it in JavaScript, as you don't need to save any data. At the very least, stop by the Drupal forum at Drupal.org and ask if Drupal will meet your needs: https://drupal.org/forum/20 Joomla is slightly more advanced that WordPress, but still only suitable for simple sites. For both, security, consistency of admin interface and flexibility for current/future developments are a concern. That's a load of crap. You are even bashing "open source junk" and then recommending WordPress. It's awful for customising. Basic pages/a blog are fine, but for rapid development of custom content types, blocks ("widgets") and so forth, it's a PITA. On the other hand, Drupal has fields as core which is very flexible, allowing true custom content types. Unlike WordPress. Drupal also has the Views module, which can help to create (for example, but far from limited to) blocks relevant to content type/the actual content with clicks of the button rather than messing around with source code. Basically allows you to do "database queries" on your content and as long as it's well-organised with relevant fields it's easy to select specific content and present only the fields that you want to. Open source is perfectly fine. Hell, PHP is open source. So is Linux. And many other software that is used day-to-day on servers, routers, etc. Look at how money is made from open source software - through support and services. Just because something is open source doesn't make it "junk". Far from it. The closed source model can just be a PITA - no fixing it yourself, waiting on the vendor for security/bug fixes, less resources/skilled minds involved in development.
Burried in an earlier post of mine was the question, how difficult is it to move from one CMS to another. Will I lose all my work if I start off in one, and then move to another CMS?
More or less - it depends on how you implement your own functions - more often than not, at least part of the code can be easily moved, but all the different CMSes uses different internal coding, hence if you use any of the internal ways of adding / retrieving / access code or databases, this will have to be rewritten. Base rule: don't assume you can take anything with you. There are, however, ways to convert between most major platforms, but they're buggy at best. You said you don't want any logins or anything like that, but if I may add my opinion on that: people like to get some kind of reward for their time. A score, a way to get a better score, etc. Just having the math-questions might not be rewarding "enough" for people to come back. Adding a way to save progress or similar might be a thing you should consider. Wordpress, as been said before, is probably more than powerful enough for your needs - it's also very easy to modify, and easy to get to grips with. That does not, however, mean limited - you can do almost anything with Wordpress, and some of the key benefits of the other CMSes mentioned can also be accomplished with plugins for WP.
It depends on the CMS. Drupal has good modules for it, whether it's from Joomla, WordPress, TYPO3, phpBB, vBulletin, etc. But with the migrate module you are not limited to specific platforms as you can map to other CMS's. Start here: https://drupal.org/project/migrate WordPress, Joomla and others have their own modules, but nowhere nears as accomplished as Migrate.
Popsicle and Ryan, thank you both for your timely and succint answers to my secondary question. Based on my experience with various database programs, I had feared it would be like getting married once I chose a CMS. Both your posts have directed my purchases of titles for the Kindle, and hardcopies of books because too much screen time gives me a headache (due to years in front of a monitor, and staring into overhead projectors). Popsicle, I had considered login options (maybe temporary logins accepting 10 letters only) along with a sort of 'leader board,' or bragging rights aspect to the site but was concerned that this would increase the potential for hackability of the site so I opted out on this design aspect. If at a later time I feel confident enough to tackle issues involved with users logging in, I may add this aspect to the site. *WARNING OFF TOPIC* I know learning theororists feel that all instruction, especially math instruction, needs more punch and fun, but learning math is not fun. It is empowering, and that is what makes math fun to learn. It empowers you to study all the sciences because it is the foundational language of all the sciences. In fact, learning math will give you a headache if you are doing it right because developing neural pathways in the brain results in headaches. Something I made clear from day one to all the students in my classes. P.S. On the side, I have yet to firgure out how to thank a post. Where is the LIKE or THANK button in this forum because I would like to use it! Only a 'best answer' option?
There's a little "Like" link next to the "Reply"-link in the lower right corner of each post. Apart from that, there's only the "Best Answer" choice, yes. As for the login-problem, this can "easily" be solved by fx linking user-logins to a separate Facebook-login (which basically links your math-blog/problems with Facebook-accounts, and enables you to make it possible to login on any computer with the same account, and gather the information needed to sync across different platforms for the same user). However, any type of login and pulling of information does involve certain security risks, so putting this off for a later date might not be such a bad idea - you should keep it in mind though, and perhaps aim for getting this done sometime in the near future.
Popcicle - While studying, I will keep my eye out for any material about your suggestion regarding fx linking user-logins. Thank you for the heads up on the correct termonology for this aspect of web design which should enhance the site. In the beginning, a good foundation in correct termonology and definitions for them is key when studying a new subject. Without that base knowledge, important information is often missed. ON THE SIDE: The 'like' button is not any place near the reply button, nor do I see it on the right portion of the forum's window. I have moved the cursor over the right area of the window just in case the font shows funky for the like links in my browser, and still cannot see a link to like a post. I can report, set as best answer, find the IP for a poster (not sure what that is but is screaming to me to push it), a permalink, and reply. I thought maybe I needed to be more than a neophyte within the forum to like posts.
Once you are an "established member", with three likes from three different different members, you will be able to see the "like" button. At the moment, you do have three likes, but two are from me, so you need a third from another member.
Basically you asked if PHP was powerful enough to handle math and output text................ If anything perhaps PHP is to powerful for what you need to have done.