Web development help?!
So, my mom's boss at work needs a website, and my mom told him that I could do it, and now, well, I got the job. I am also doing it with my cousin, who also has a lot of programming knowledge.
Well... my mom gave me the link, and that's it. Today I told her I started on it, and all of a sudden there is a WHOLE lot more to the job. She wants me to make it where no one with any programming cognition is able to edit it, aka, her boss. I was thinking, make a part of the website where it is just website.com/admin and have a username and password for it. I can do that. But how do I make it in the admin page where he can update information to it, like in the news section.
Please help. This is my first big paying job programming, and I don't want to mess it up. What language will this require? I know C++, html, CSS (although that probably won't apply), and Javascript. With my luck, I will have to learn PHP, something I was putting off.
Well... my mom gave me the link, and that's it. Today I told her I started on it, and all of a sudden there is a WHOLE lot more to the job. She wants me to make it where no one with any programming cognition is able to edit it, aka, her boss. I was thinking, make a part of the website where it is just website.com/admin and have a username and password for it. I can do that. But how do I make it in the admin page where he can update information to it, like in the news section.
Please help. This is my first big paying job programming, and I don't want to mess it up. What language will this require? I know C++, html, CSS (although that probably won't apply), and Javascript. With my luck, I will have to learn PHP, something I was putting off.
First of all, why does your mom want the website to not be able to be edited by the one who assigned her to make it? That seems like a pointless waste of time, as her boss is paying her (to pay you) to make something for him (or her).
Anyways, to the point:
Web development has a few layers to it. First you have the actual data of the website, which would include the text, references to any images, and other things of that sort. This is all done in HTML for the majority of webpages. On top of this, you have the styling and all of the little tweaks that makes the webpage look nice. This is done in CSS. The last two layers are the (in my opinion) real programming parts. You have code run on the client (the browser) to add any touches to make the website interact well with the user. This is done in Javascript. Finally, you have the code that is run on the server that hosts the website. This code can do anything you need done or changed right as the webpage is loaded. Examples of this would be things relating to logging in and staying logged in (you may want to display their username at the top of the screen). This commonly is done in PHP, but can also be done in a variety of languages.
If your mom really needs you to add protection to editing the webpage or you are curious about how it might be done, you would need access to the server you are putting your website on, and your boss would have to not know the administrator account details or have an account with admin privileges. If you are using linux, look into the http://ss64.com/bash/chmod.html command.
Anyways, to the point:
Web development has a few layers to it. First you have the actual data of the website, which would include the text, references to any images, and other things of that sort. This is all done in HTML for the majority of webpages. On top of this, you have the styling and all of the little tweaks that makes the webpage look nice. This is done in CSS. The last two layers are the (in my opinion) real programming parts. You have code run on the client (the browser) to add any touches to make the website interact well with the user. This is done in Javascript. Finally, you have the code that is run on the server that hosts the website. This code can do anything you need done or changed right as the webpage is loaded. Examples of this would be things relating to logging in and staying logged in (you may want to display their username at the top of the screen). This commonly is done in PHP, but can also be done in a variety of languages.
If your mom really needs you to add protection to editing the webpage or you are curious about how it might be done, you would need access to the server you are putting your website on, and your boss would have to not know the administrator account details or have an account with admin privileges. If you are using linux, look into the http://ss64.com/bash/chmod.html command.
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| That seems like a pointless waste of time, as her boss is paying her (to pay you) to make something for him (or her). |
You might wanna check into either Django (Python) or Rails (Ruby) both come with great support for admin pages and are amazing tools for dynamic websites.
The website already exists? What is the link ( if you don't mind )? What framework is it built off so far?
| First of all, why does your mom want the website to not be able to be edited by the one who assigned her to make it? |
I hope you learn the answer to this question by way of someone else s pain. I know that this train of thought makes sense to you now just like it used to make sense to me, if this guy is paying of it it's his, it belongs to him right? So why shouldn't he have full access to it? The reason is because he will break it. It doesn't matter how smart he is, this is exactly what will happen. Then after his impulsive actions cause the destruction of the site it will be entirely your fault. Even if it's ten years later and you haven't even looked at the site since handing it over it will still be your fault because you were the one who originally made it. If you are going to be blamed for someone else's unthinking actions, which is sadly inevitable in the long run, then you should at least make it more difficult for them to cause the problem in the first place.
http://sumnerrugby.org/index.html
That is the website. I looked through the code, and it does look kind of amateur. For instance, for spacers, they just used a plain white image called "spacer/image.gif" instead of break tags. I think I can do better.
That is the website. I looked through the code, and it does look kind of amateur. For instance, for spacers, they just used a plain white image called "spacer/image.gif" instead of break tags. I think I can do better.
| For instance, for spacers, they just used a plain white image called "spacer/image.gif" instead of break tags. I think I can do better. |
It looks like they may have created one large image and used a graphics tool to "slice" the larger image into smaller pieces and create a table with them. The spacers are probably part of the slicing.
| instead of break tags. I think I can do better. |
Ideally, you would drop the entire
table, that type of layout is defunct.However, if your job is to make the site editable, then you don't have to care about that at all.
The correct way would be to use something like PHP, Django, or Rails, but your client might hesitate to create the site from scratch. If you can't convince them to do it the right way, you might be able to write a local application that simply edits the static html files that already exist.
| you might be able to write a local application that simply edits the static html files that already exist. |
Actually... that sounds like a pretty good idea. Could I maybe use C++ for that, or, like you mentioned, PHP or Django? Now that I think of it, I could maybe make a thing like that in C++.
It is definitely the laziest and least flexible method, but perhaps the quickest to do the job. It depends on how well you can communicate that they may need a more dynamic solution.
That is an awful idea, IMO. It quickly becomes incredibly painful for anything non-trivial.
Why not use some CMS, like Wordpress, Drupal, or Joomla? Easy and quick way to get a professional looking website with lots of functionality. And of course it has your admin page.
Why not use some CMS, like Wordpress, Drupal, or Joomla? Easy and quick way to get a professional looking website with lots of functionality. And of course it has your admin page.
if You can use database with c++(i have no idea).
Usual way is to use database(sqllite/mysql). Stores username, password and editable content on database. or you can also put editable content in text file, retrive the content for display on page. To authenticate for editing check users login info against username and password stored in database. Javascript is not required type.
Usual way is to use database(sqllite/mysql). Stores username, password and editable content on database. or you can also put editable content in text file, retrive the content for display on page. To authenticate for editing check users login info against username and password stored in database. Javascript is not required type.
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Oh! Wow. I am sorry I completely forgot to mark this as solved. Whoops. Well my problem is gone though, I figured it out my self. Thanks anyway
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