Hi I have been asked to make a small web site for a school

They want to be able to update pages manually and add information as and when they need to

The only way I know is to edit the html files and re-upload them which a customer obviously cannot do.

Is there an easy way of doing this? Do I need to research into content management?

Thanks, Ben

Yes.
You could use PHP's fopen(), fwrite() functions to edit the HTML files directly.
You could also store all the text in a database and get the pages to get the text from there. Then you can make a management script that alters the text in the database.

thanks for that... so:

i need to learn php... store all my text in a mysql database

and write a form where the customer can edit the data and when they submit it sends the php commands to update the DB?

how would i make the page secure so only certain people could up load to the site?

i have been reading and joomla is mentiond a few places is that any use?

Cutenews is a small CMs that would allow them to update themselves. You might have to purchase a license but its only like 35 bucks.

Other than that, you could create a CMS yourself. Or Joomla is also an alternative.

I guess it depends on how complicated / or not, you whant it to be.

i would like to do it the complicated way and learn how to code everything and set up the database

i guess i need to read up on php then

what interface would the customer see in order to edit their site?

how would they access the editing area?

Just from an outside perspective. To create a custom CMS as a beginner and get it to work correctly without leaving your site susceptible to security vulnerabilities. You have a long road ahead of you.

A pre-made CMS however, (not that they are completely secure), would offer extended features that could take you quite a long time to create.

heck, with Joomla, you can completely edit the look of the site, have an extended application CMS and you don't have to leave the copyright at the bottom of the page. Just leave it in the header

hi - have found a tutorial on creating a basic cms system with php

i'm just writing the main systemcomponent.php to connect with the mysql database, which is:

<?php
class SystemComponent {
var $settings;
function getSettings() {
// System variables
$settings['siteDir'] = 'path to site?';
// Database variables
$settings['dbhost'] = 'sql4.my-php.net';
$settings['dbusername'] = 'my_394339';
$settings['dbpassword'] = 'password';
$settings['dbname'] = 'my_394339_test';
return $settings;
}
}
?>

what i need to know is what should i enter in the sitedir and path sections which i have highlighted red??? I'm not sure what the path to the mysql db is!!

the host gave me this info:
Addresses and Paths :

Your web site addresshttp://yoursite.my-php.netPath to your site/home/vol1/my-php.net//my_394999
any help appreciated

OK Sorted the last problem I having trouble adding a record to a customers database, can anyone see anything wrong with this code???

<?php
require_once('DbConnector.php');
if ($HTTP_POST_VARS){
$connector = new DbConnector();
$insertQuery = "INSERT INTO customers
(firstname,lastname,address)
VALUES
("."'".$HTTP_POST_VARS['firstname']."', "."'".$HTTP_POST_VARS['lastname']."',
".$HTTP_POST_VARS['address']."')";
if ($result = $connector->query($insertQuery)){
echo '<center><b>Article added to the database</b></center><br>';
}else{
exit('<center>Sorry, there was an error saving to the database</center>');
}
}
?>

I keep getting the Sorry... message

You could use DotNetNuke or some other Content Management system. DDN is very easy to set up.

I'd try it like this:

PHP Code:

<?php
require_once('DbConnector.php');
if ($_POST){
$connector = new DbConnector();
$insertQuery = "INSERT INTO customers (firstname,lastname,address) VALUES ('".$_POST['firstname']."', '".$_POST['lastname']."', '".$_POST['address']."')";
if ($result = $connector->query($insertQuery)){
echo '<center><b>Article added to the database</b></center><br>';
}else{
exit('<center>Sorry, there was an error saving to the database</center>');
}
}
?>