The Database Forum

**jeffmcsheff** · 01-06-2006, 03:36 PM

im new to mysql and from what i undestand you only need MySQL if you want to capture visitors details i.e name etc , or if you sell lots of products etc.

I have a site www.frodop.com which contains free articles on loads of subjects , theres over 30,000 pages . Would MySQL be of benefit to my site? What would it do for me?

Not quite sure if i should be using it or not?

jez

**chrishirst** · 01-07-2006, 06:42 AM

MySQL (or any database) is beneficial for any site where data is stored, or retrieved or needs to be searched.

The advantage of using a database for a large site (such as yours) is that the pages can be delivered to the user agent by using a few scripts instead of every page having to exist physically. Navigation can be built on the fly from the database. Groups of articles can be categorised in many ways. Many more possibilities exist with a db driven site against a static site.
And No! db driven sites when designed with a little thought are NOT "bad" for SEO.

But it's hard to say whether MySQL would benefit you without knowing what DB you currently use (if any)

**jeffmcsheff** · 01-07-2006, 07:24 AM

thnks chris , i dont currently use any db at the momment. Am i right in thinking that if i were to use MySql i could easily move/add/edit articles without having to edit the actual physical page? Is it easy to create a database from a site that is already uploaded , can i just draw all the info from the site? is there a MySql wizard?

**chrishirst** · 01-07-2006, 08:26 AM

yep provided you used a decent CMS (Content Management System) or had one coded to suit your needs you could do that.
Creating a database from existing pages could certainly be done by using some code to "scrape" the pages and applying some formatting for the display, it would certainly be easier than a from scratch operation.
No there's no MySQL wizard for that sort of thing

You may have misunderstood what MySQL is I feel,
It is simply a method of storing and retrieving data. For using it to provide the content and structure of a website requires the use of server side code to extract and feed the resulting HTML out from the server to the client browser.