What do I use for data base?

[Gran]

I currently am very comfortable with frontpage. We want to create a site that will allow readers to search based on maybe 3-6 different criteria (give or take).

My preference would be to create the site myself, hiring someone more technical than me for writing the code for the data base & search. Is there a way to do that and tie it in with frontpage?

If not, what would be the best way to do this? Is dreamweaver something that would work better?

What would I look for in a programmer? What languages are necessary? Would I be able to maintain the database myself without knowing code?

Thanks!

 

[ian]

php as a web programming language and mysql as a database are the most popular combination used on the internet. Before going down the road of hiring a programmer, you may want to check and see if there is a commercial off the shelf script which can be used to suit your needs which would probably be a cheaper option.

 

[Gran]

Thank you Ian. Where would I go to see if there is an off the shelf program available?

Also, would PHP be used with frontpage, or would I use it instead of frontpage? Does Php stand for something I may have heard of, or is it the way it's commonly referred to? It doesn't sound familiar to me.

Thanks again!

 

[ian]

The php website is located at http://www.php.net/
PHP initially stood for personal home page, but it was later called PHP Hypertext Preprocessor or php for short.
This site is an example of a site which uses php, notice the .php extension in the address bar.
There are quite a lot of off the shelf php scripts located here
http://php.resourceindex.com/Complete_Scripts/
You could use frontpage in addition to an off the shelf php script if you are not familiar with web programming.

 

[StephanieCordray]

If not, what would be the best way to do this? Is dreamweaver something that would work better?

While dreamweaver has better support for php coding, it's not really necessary unless you plan on using php a lot as in working with a lot of sites requiring it.

In the short, if not quite accurate, explanation php is used to call up the database(s) and putting everything in html readable form. It works with your html pages to make your site always current as it is the go-between your site and the database information that has been stored.

 

[zkiller]

in conjunction with frontpage a simple access database would be your best bet. i am guessing that front page is capable of creating the little bit of asp code needed to interact with the database for you.

 

[Gran]

Zkiller - Forgive me but I'm a novice. What do I look at in frontpage to see if it can interact? Do I need to know asp?

Also, is that the name of the language - simple access database?

Thanks!

 

[StephanieCordray]

in conjunction with frontpage a simple access database would be your best bet. i am guessing that front page is capable of creating the little bit of asp code needed to interact with the database for you.

On a windows server, yeah, that would work. On a nix server, it can be done but not easily.