Here's the deal. I want to create a website where people of a certain group can create their own account, long in, manage theier schedules, add/remove/edit appointments, email their own clients at once, have a calander of their events, etc. It's basically an online 'business manager' for these people. I'm assuming that I'll need to use PHP or something fo that nature to do this. I'm not totally computer challanged, I've designed some websites, used some CSS, but that's about the extent of my experience. Can I do this myself? Can someone explain to me in easy to understand terms what programs/software/whatever I need to use to accomplish this? The website part I can do. The part where they can have thier own accounts on said website is where I get confused. Help please.
sounds like you want some type of portal: their are tons of free ones out there - maybe try out mambo at http://www.mamboserver.com/
....that site is very confusing. lol I need something that will explain to me how to set this up in a way that a beginner can understand. I wasn't even clear on what exactly Mambo does just by reading the site. If there's a page on there explaining all the features that I missed please point me in the right direction. I have zero experience in this area so I'm really starting from scratch in the knowledge department. The actual website design is not a problem, I just need help setting up these extra features for my users.
well, first of all - lets figure out what you have for a Host. Is it on a Windows or *nix box? (as in are you running Apache webserver or IIS) If you are on a Windows box - and have access to code asp.net 2.0 applications then you are in luck! they now have implemented an entire membership, roles, profiles, etc... - an entire module collection to handle users, their permissions, etc... you just need to setup a web.config file with the appropriate settings and in your asp.net code you can access membership. and roles. and add users, roles, etc... with 1 line of code if you are on php - you can look for other free scripts or i or we can wlak you through coding a "CMS-Like" app. actually - i just checked your info - if it's for the CentralPets then you are currently running PHP - so i would advise looking around for free scripts
Thanks. It's not for the centralpetz site, but it will be on the same host. So I need a CMS script for this? Will that make it possible for people to have thier own account on the website? What exactly will CMS do for me? And what do I need to do with just straight html? Would it help to PM you a link to our test site so you can get a better idea of what I need? I really appreciate any help. I'm a little lost on what to do next.
I don't think that you necessarily need a whole CMS system just for the login script. If you're using PHP this article might be helpful: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=31690&rl=1