Big database of contact book entries

[Cristatus]

Ok, here's the deal. I have way too much time on my hands, so I've decided to do something with it. I was thinking, why not make an online searchable contact book that everyone can access. Our community has a contact book of at least 500 families, if I'm not mistaken, and it would help to have these contacts available online.

The main question is, how do I approach this? What tools am I going to use to store all the contacts, and make them searchable, as well as have them online?
At first I thought: MS Acess. But then I thought: can I publish that online, and give it a good interface?

So I am here to ask you guys for help. I need to know what kind of stuff I will be needing for this project. Assume no skills, and prepare for the worst.

I know this outline is pretty basic, and questions are expected, so please don't hesitate to ask.

TIA.

 

[Cristatus]

So I guess nobody has approached this kind of project before?

 

[neit]

If you want anything online these days, the easy answer is php + mysql.

good luck

 

[Cristatus]

Ok, cool, I'll look into that. What do I need to get myself started?

 

[kevnich2]

Not to rain on your parade here but if this is actually going to be online and available to the internet, you may want/need to ask how the community would feel about that. I know if that were me, I wouldn't want my information published out the internet.

 

[tfinch2]

What kind of security are you going to implement so that the information isn't public?

 

[kamper]

Originally posted by: shahbazq
If you want anything online these days, the easy answer is php + mysql.

good luck

Obligatory "postgres will work too (better imho)"

But an abstraction layer is best :thumbsup:

 

[nweaver]

I'm a glutton for punishment...I would build a flat file and parse it using perl to build associative arrays

(PHP+Database, mysql is popular is probably easier)

 

[Cristatus]

Well, at first, it's just a test project, and won't be published on the WWW. But once completed (if completed) I will poll the population about how they feel.

So, what do I use to code in PHP and mySQL? Any suggested reading? Any freeware programs available to code in?

 

[Cristatus]

I saw a Sam's Teach youself PHP Apacha, MySQL book. Should I buy it?

 

[Unheard]

Personally I would use Cold Fusion and MSSQL.... But thats just me. The PHP & MySQL/Postgre combo is also a very good option due to the fact is free to do. I'm just too stubborn to learn PHP at this point, so I fall back to trusty CF. If you need any help w/ DB design or coding just let me know, I'll be glad to lend a hand.

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: Unheard
Personally I would use Cold Fusion and MSSQL.... But thats just me. The PHP & MySQL/Postgre combo is also a very good option due to the fact is free to do. I'm just too stubborn to learn PHP at this point, so I fall back to trusty CF. If you need any help w/ DB design or coding just let me know, I'll be glad to lend a hand.

Fair enough. I'm not going to spend money on a project that I doubt I'll finish, so I think I'd rather use the free alternatives

Anyhoo...about the books I mentioned: are they any good?

 

[Cristatus]

So I guess nobody knows if this book is any good. Or if there are any better alternatives?

 

[stndn]

If you're looking for good book that can be used as learning point + future reference, I'd suggest one of those O'Reilly's books. Too bad, I don't have the book title of those on top of my head (in office now).

ah, what the heck .. here are what i used: PHP cookbook and Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL, Second Edition

Otherwise, the PHP manual itself is a good starting point and available from PHP website.

I'm never really a fan of 'Learn XXX in YY hour / ZZ week / etc' series. Sure, they may be easy to digest. But they teach too basic things that by the end of the book, I'd be 30-40$ out and not that far into it. But then again, my opinion may be quite biased.
(Could be that I have technical background, though - so learning from manuals is not all that hard)


There are many ways to do what you're planning to do. Being that you want to make them online, it's probably a sensible choice to go with (X/?)HTML+PHP+MySql, being the "cheapest and easiest"** alternative available now. However, as mentioned by kevnich2 and tfinch2, you have to consider how you're going to protect the data from being leaked out to the public.


**) cheap and easy are very relative terms, so treat accordingly

 

[WildHorse]

There are free existing web-based solutions for what you seek.

One of them is called LinkedIn

I've seen other similar ones but I don't remember their names. You could search them out.

All you do is have folks sign up and link together in a "community." Result is just what you described in the OP, an online searchable communtiry contact book that everyone can access from any computer.

If you decided to develop something on your own, then I second the other poster's suggestion above to use MySQL + PHP, but that development will be a long uphill climb.



edited link

 

[Cristatus]

stndn: I found those books in my University's library. I'm going to be checking them out, and hopefully get started ASAP.

scott: The thing is, I'm not sure if everybody in the community is internet literate, let alone, computer literate. Also, I'm hoping this would help in my knowledge. I'm a Business and Finance student, but I wanted to do something in the computing field (wasn't sure what, and that's why I picked business in the end). Now, I want to try something, and see if I actually have the will power to take on a project like this. Also, this will contribute to my general knowledge of how things work. As I mentioned before, it's a personal project, but if it goes good, that's good.

 

[Cristatus]

Ok, I've been doing some research, and was wondering whether it would make a difference on whether I used Apache or IIS.

There are two approaches to this: I can use the WIMP (Windows, IIS, MySQL, PHP) approach, or I can use the WAMP ((Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) approach.

I don't know what the differences between Apache and IIS are, but I do know that they are both servers for HTTP use. I understand that Apache is freely available, and that IIS is bundled with Win XP Pro. Apart from these two differences, are there any reasons why I should opt for one of the server options over the other.

Also, I'm running XP Home, and was wondering if there was a way to obtain IIS. I heard there are two version available (5.0 and 6.0). I obviously want the latest versoin available.

To summarise: What should I use, Apache or IIS?

Also, while I'm at it, is there a forum dedicated to PHP?

 

[GeekDrew]

As for a forum, resources, etc., feel free to google for that stuff... there is plenty out there. Also check out php.net... it has everything that you could possibly need on it.

I personally prefer Apache to IIS. However, I haven't used Apache on Windows in several years... and I personally don't even do development work on Windows... I have a machine running linux that I use for a local server for development stuff. And no, I'm not a "professional" web developer/designer/etc... I just do it in my spare time, for a couple of organizations.

Also, if you're looking for a very basic introduction to PHP & MySQL, look up Larry Ullman's PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites. That's the first book I read on the topic, and it got me on my feet. It doesn't even touch on Object Oriented Programming, nor many of the best practices out there, but it does mention all of the things that you would need for your first website coded in PHP.

Good luck!

 

[Cristatus]

Thanks for the info GeekDrew. I'll see if my school library carries that book. I've had some background on OOP, but that's about it (I pretty much quite my CompSci class after that).

I'm not a professional either. This is a personal project.

I forgot that somebody above also mentioned PHP.net. I couldn't find the forums on there (maybe I wasn't looking hard enough). I don't know if you guys mean the usergroups, but I've never had experience with a usergroup. Don't know what it is, don't know how it works, but AFAIK, I know that it's not a forum. I was searching for something along the lines of a forum like this.

TIA

 

[GeekDrew]

php.net is more of a reference website - it has all of the documentation about what functions (and etc.) do. I don't think that there are forums (such as these), but IIRC, there are newsgroups/mailing lists that would work. No, usergroups are not what you're looking for.

Search google for "php coding forum"... there should be a few relevant results near the top.

 

[Cristatus]

Cool. So now the only question that reamins is what to use: Apache or IIS?

 

[stndn]

If you're thinking to eventually move to a web hosting instead of your own web server, I'd recommend you start with Apache.
Most web hosts are running Apache (for reasons like cost, reliability, etc). Although PHP/MySQL is independent of the server you're using, you might be learning some other things like mod_rewrite later. And if you do end up with those, the transition is easier when moving from the same servers.

But well, it's a matter of preference, I guess.

Apache is free for windows / linux / etc, so it's something worth looking into.

 

[Cristatus]

Apache it is then