Creating a Blog

[<M/>]

I am creating a blog and i am what are some things i must know and should look at so i can create my blog. I am trying to create my blog without using anything like Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla, etc. I am creating EVERYTHING.

So, what are some sites, books, articles, resources, etc. that i can look at so i can create my blog without using existing an existing cms?

Sorry if this post is ridiculous. if you are curious, i am creating a site like these 2 with their similar purposes.
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
http://css-tricks.com/

[Octet]

What do you know already? As far as I was aware you already knew a fair amount about web development (or at least that is what I gather from your previous posts).

[<M/>]

Well... I know HTML(5)/CSS(3), working on my jquery/javascript skills, and i am studying java and c#. I am also updating my knowledge on php and mysql.

I still make silly mistakes on my code, but i am always doing my best to improve myself.

[Octet]

As you're creating everything yourself, before even beginning you should plan a full folder structure. In my experience this is the first area that shall let any developer down (regardless of skill), if the project is to be particularly large it is very easy for you to loose files and it makes them difficult to hyperlink to.

For my projects, in my root directory I normally split it into the following folders:

• HTML
• PHP
• JS
• Assets

And within this I would have subfolders.

The second tip I would suggest is having your Header and Footer loaded dynamically, this means that if you add another category which needs linking to, or add a new social feed to your footer, you can edit a single file instead of changing the navigation on every single page.

As always, plan your design on paper before beginning, and follow all the conventions. Don't neglect those with older browsers, make sure to use parametised queries, you might consider including a mobile stylesheet and keep it to context!

I'm sure a lot of this you probably already have in front of you, however if you have any questions then I shall do my best to assist.

Good luck with the project!

[pritaeas]

I can recommend this (e-)book.

[Octet]

If you're allowing members, then in your database table you might consider having a column named something along the lines of 'Rights' or 'Privileges'. Then when you check your login you can define what sort of content to display.

For example,

• 0 = Banned
• 1 = Normal
• 2 = Advanced
• 3 = Admin

So using this principal you can block a user at login, and use the same method to display certain content. This being the essentials of your access control.

[<M/>]

I have read that a lot of people like to use frameworks (like codeigniter, genesis, etc.) are those recommended? Or should i work around it?

Also, do i have to use things like phpmyadmin? Or can i build my own?

(sorry, but i may come up with a bunch of questions in thread.)

[<M/>]

Are there any other books available that are helpful for designing/creating a blog from scratch? I downloaded the book that pritaeas provided, i am just interested if there are any others that are very helpful.

[LastMitch]

Are there any other books available that are helpful for designing/creating a blog from scratch? I downloaded the book that pritaeas provided, i am just interested if there are any others that are very helpful.

The most important about the blog is the database. So even though you understand HTML(5)/CSS(3), jquery/javascript. You need to understand PHP also to implement the database with it. You can used jquery/javascript to do that too (You need to used ajax to fetch the data from the database).

Even I'm still learning PHP but I'm learning OOP PHP on my own. PHP Framework is the another option if you want to create social networking websites (from scratch) /customs blogs (from scratch) and more. It will save you alot of time if you used PHP Framework.

[Assembly Guy]

It should't be too bad if you understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. I've made quite a few things that I used to teach myself PHP and mysql - forum software and the like.
The great thing about blogs is that you can start out with it being simple - eg. you're the only person who can log in and post. Then you can expand it depending on your needs - be able to edit posts, have others log in and comment, but not post blog entries, or give your friends accounts so they can make blog posts... Anyway, awesome choice of project. Blogs are a really great project, being as simple or as complicated as you want them to be.
I'll re-iterate what others have said:
Learn PHP fairly well and also learn how to integrate MySQL with it (PHP makes it so easy for you). Set up a MySQL server, write some relatively simple code, profit.

Also, check out http://www.tizag.com/mysqlTutorial/ and http://http://www.tizag.com/phpT/ to learn PHP and MySQL.

Good luck!

[Assembly Guy]

Also, do i have to use things like phpmyadmin? Or can i build my own?

You won't need PHPMyAdmin if you have access (SSH, remote desktop or physical access) to the computer you'll be running the MySQL server on. PHPMyAdmin just provides a web-based way to create tables, databases etc on a MySQL server, but if you can log into the server with a MySQL client program (ie you're sitting at the computer or SSH-ing/Remote Desktop-ing into it), then you can use that instead of PHPMyAdmin.

(sorry, but i may come up with a bunch of questions in thread.)

Questions = interest, curiosity and engagement = more learning :)

[<M/>]

Okay thanks guys, if there is any more information, books, resources, etc. that i must know please tell me.

I will ask more questions on this thread if i come up with one.

Thanks so far.

[<M/>]

Another question...

I am looking at frameworks, what do you guys think is the best frameworks for building blogs...?

I noticed codeigniter and zend were pretty good. What do you guys think is the best frameworks for developing blogs...?

[LastMitch]

Try Yii.

I try it, it's nice but you need to learn basic OOP just to get a feel of it. I know daifol has try that one too. He's like it too.

[<M/>]

okay, i might consider that one but what about zend and codeigniter, how are they?

[Octet]

Personally I've never seen the need for a framework, I normally combine my most important parts into a centralised file(s), then I would call the function when needed.

In terms of other good resources, TheNewBoston (Youtube) has a good series on PHP, starting from the ground up:

http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC442FA2C127377F07

and for MySQL (doesn't include MySQLi)

http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC32BC9C878BA72085

Although take them with a pinch of salt, they aren't the most up to date and therefore you might need to tweak the code a bit for security reasons.

[pritaeas]

CodeIgniter is a good start, especially if you're still learning. Zend and Symfony are the heavy-weights.

For PHP: http://phptherightway.com/