Hi guys, First up I own a crap load of domains and had planned on doing something with them about 5 years ago, then life happened and it got in the way basically. Now back then I was recommended from a website which is no longer running, probably sold for a mint, that I learn php and spend time getting to know the language inside out. Now funny part was this website I've been unable to find anywhere, probably changed their url, was a forum based around hackers. Yet through just a few visits I changed to Firefox and well, I really saw the potential in the internet. And yep, that's when life happened. So I guess my questions now I've got things back on track are: How long does it take to learn php to be fluent enough to change coding myself and make custom features I want that aren't currently on most sites? I believe there was a really good book floating around back then that was like a week in your face but did the trick. Five years later the net has come along way so I imagine there's a whole bunch more to learn? Now as for base programming, if my site simply has: -Products for sale -Commenting and a user account page, though no forum -A continual amount of updated content, requiring articles older than [x] days to categorise themself, though not removing them from the website for seo. -Email database for communication of sales and breaking news -Permanent section full of articles/data that will never move -At the top of every section of the site, I need a single slot that allows the users to upload their own story or whatever, so if i had a shoes section, it would have a 'users shoes' article or whatever, then below the 'users shoes' would be 'my shoes', or the article I most recently added. This section has got to be on the main page as well as every section page I desire it to be on. -A title bar at the top that is always on the screen no matter how much you scroll up or down, needs to be smooth and I would even like the option to have it split vertically on both the left and right of the screen, again permanently fixed there and; -A fully customizable user interface, the base layout will be allowed to change somewhat, for example the above user bar might be better at the bottom, I'd like individual users to decide what they want for themself, like background colour and the order they want things in their bar that's always on screen, so instead of having home always at the very left, maybe they want it on the right. Now I guess the point I'm getting to is Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress are the 3 main CMS' from what I've read? Maybe there's something else again? I know someone was telling me about jquery, I think that was it's name? But at the other end there is also hard coding, xml and css. Though this is a lot of work, I'm more than willing to put in the hours. I just don't want to be messing with something that is so out of date. Though I know most popular and/or functional websites have a mixture of xml, css AND php. So is it best that I use a CMS like Drupal, Joomla or Wordpress? Or should I hardcode it all? Also what's the 'current' difference between Joomla and Drupal? I believe through what I'm reading Drupal is now more popular with the tech savvy guys, yet Joomla still easier to point and click? And then Wordpress, well that's still used, but mostly by people who don't know better??? If you were starting over and wanted to dominate the world with your site, yes I believe this idea will, in given time of course , what would you use, taking into account what I said above about what the site needs to have? I look forward to your honest opinions! Also if you could point me to any material that is actually worded in decent english, not full of simple grammatical spelling and phrase mistakes, it doesn't have to be perfect, just someone who actually knew what they were talking about when it was written. Even any ebooks or videos that might help me to see how far it's come in these 5 fast years and where is the best place to start from scratch and learn - once I grasp something, I'm pretty quick to 'get it', the trouble is knowing where to start and trying to find good content worth reading, even as far as base end cpanel stuff, as oppossed to the spam related garbage you get when doing a google search or spending billions of hours browsing sites like this, only to find someone asked a question 8 years ago and that was the only one with helpful answers, though 8 years ago was a billion years ago here on the net, I don't want to be told it's already been asked as I can't find anything remotely useful by intelligent people that actually have a clue about what they're talking about and not trying to sell me some garbage they wrote...... So someone throw me a line and give this shark the tools it needs to find it's way out of this fish tank and back into the oceans of the world! Again I look forward to your honest opinions!
go check out the books section over at sitepoint.com If you want to get a good start, I suggest you get books for php, html, css, javascript/jquery there is also some wicked online video courses to be found. Lynda.com is a good source. Most of what you are writing you'd like to acheive is doable either with like wordpress and the right combination of extensions and plugins, or a competent e-commerce platform like magento commerce, with the right combination of extensions and plugins. Still, in order to stitch it all up and keep it evolving, you would absolutely benefit from learning at least enough php/html/css/javascript to be able to read the code and understand the fundamentals of what part does what. A modern CMS or ecommerce platform is a big ass application and the more you know about how it works, the easier it will be to use its full potential.
Thanks Style0. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'm headed to different places to check out the content now! Basically what you think I'm best doing for now, is why I learn the code properly, set up a wordpress based site with add ons/plug- ins to get myself properly acquainted with all the fundamentals of the behind the scenes stuff?
I would advise you to learn HTML since it is the easier of the rest you are trying to learn. Plus it's easy to use with wordpress and stuff. I started out learning from w3schools.com but as I grew more knowledgable I used an online html editor from www.easywebcontent.com It just saves time thats all. Learn the basics and you will never regret it
Thanks Marywallace66. I've had a quick browse at the site, looks very straightforward, though I think like you're saying, doing the hard work and learning html might pay off in the long run!
I would most likely use a CMS already out there. I started off/still really am a front end designer, and can write some back end code in PHP, javascript, and C++, so I am confident in my abilities to produce a mid-level site(PHP navigation, authentiction, file management etc.) But the problem for me, and for what you might run into is tying it all together and still managing to keep it efficient, and most importantly, SECURE. I would say you could learn the basics to produce all of the functions you discussed in a few months, but it is the security aspect, and real implementation that could take years for you to really master. Basically, if you are going to be running a site where people can input information, send it through a process, and have sensitive data on the same server; i'd leave it to a flawless script Although if you wish to tackle this on your own, all the power to you...just from a personal standpoint, it takes a lot to really make it run smoothly and securely and for my personal/professional goals its simply not worth me spending the time to learn it when there are resources(scripts & coders) who can have it done quicker and at a higher level. [edit]A great resource that I used to learn the fundamentals is http://www.tizag.com/phpT/ , but if I were you, I'd buy a physical book to refer to.[/edit]
LOL, I quoted you while you were editing ;p First off thanks for the answerm but I have a few questions for you: What kind of flawless script? One I pay someone to write for exactly what I require, a custom made one? or just a generic one that's tweaked? I plan on learning so in the future I can do it for others, another skill to have in life can only be beneficial. Therefore I believe learning will be a huge advantage. BUT if I was to use the scripts and coders, how much would I be having to pay for it? Any idea of a bakllpark figure I'd be up for? I guess for me having a site that I've built from scratch is what it's all about, though thinking about what you've said, reality is I'd still be making all the content and have the say over what I want, therefore it'd still be mine, it'd just be up and running a lot faster. Is there a specific book you'd recommend buying? Something more recent or older but more grounded? Thanks heaps man, I've already got the site open in another tab, having a good read. Cheers, meltinzone