I will have a database of over 2-300 files each with a unique name. Each file will have 1 to several hundred entries including text with links and images. The user of the site will first choose from a list of the files. He will be taken to a spreadsheet like page, a table I guess, where he can see a subset of the information for each entry. One of the columns will include a “number”. By clicking on this number, the user will be taken to a page showing detailed information including images and links to other web sites.
I don’t want to link every number by hand, or create a web page for every entry. My web page will need to use the file being looked at, and the number clicked. From this information, a unique entry in the data base is found and the detailed information displayed, dynamically on a common page. The first step also needs to be dynamic. When the user selects the file, the information should be displayed on a common page.
So my question(s). Will Freeway help me design this site? Can I create “code” that links the user to the database in the way described? I am thinking of using iWork Numbers to create my database. Will this work?
I am new to this, I know the project will take months as I need to learn from scratch. I would prefer not to spend weeks learning an application and finding out that I should have used a different one.
Any guidance as to the applications I should use would be appreciated. If this is not the place to ask such a question, where should I go? Thank you.
Hi Paul,
Freeway will certainly help you design the look and feel of the site
you want but it’s not going to be the tool of choice for creating a
data rich site like the one you describe. I would recommend either
looking into learning PHP and MySQL and hand code a database driven
site yourself or scout around and look for a database driven content
management system that you can use to do 90% of the work.
Although using a CMS may seem like a quick solution you may find that
a CMS becomes limiting in the long run as you have to figure out how
to unravel the system to make your specific changes.
There are a number of tutorials out there that will guide you through
the process of creating your own database powered site. For example;
<http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/wikis/mysql-tutorials/content-management-system-cms-using-php-and-mysql.aspx
Good luck.
Regards,
Tim.
On 5 Mar 2010, at 04:51, Paul Meyerholtz wrote:
Any guidance as to the applications I should use would be
appreciated. If this is not the place to ask such a question,
where should I go? Thank you.
Thanks for your response Tim. Your response has already led me to some needed info and good sites to learn what I need to learn. I guess I’ll need to dig into the details a bit more than I had hoped, but I’ll be better for it in the long run.