Need introducing to CMS in web design. Anyone point me in the right direction?

[AmiNeo]

Hey guys... For web, I need to create a website and develop a basic content management system for the end user. I've been looking around and seems a little complex, I don't have a clue where to start.

I've been familiarising myself with Javascript and PHP over the last few weeks, but what is retarded is that most CMS seem to require a database which is the module we start after this project gets done... :nuts:

 

[User2921]

Check out udemy.com - you may have to pay for a few courses but you can access them forever, there are howto videos, and most of the courses are offered by ivy league schools. It's been REALLY helpful for me, to say the least.

 

[desiv]

Don't worry about the database at this stage.
While the CMS uses a database, initially, you really only need to know the basics to connect to the database.
If your CMS requires you to dig into the database just to get it going, then it's not a good CMS.. ;-)

Of course, knowing a bit about the database is good, but not required at this stage.

Are you looking into Joomla or Drupal?
There's lots of good info on those (and others) out there..

Good luck.

desiv

 

[AmiNeo]

Id be happy to get any into a website I create myself tbh... What is involved in creating your own? Would that be too advanced for a second year CompSci student who's tutors had a bumpy first year?

I've tried looking at drupal and had a go at setting it up in WAMP but keep running into issues when setting the database up with it.

 

[TommyToXen]

I'm a web developer who uses specifically CMS.

My favourite is Joomla, it's open source, it's powerful, it's updated regularly and has a massive modding community.

It's also the easiest CMS to use out of all of them, I find, and requires very little knowledge in PHP.

If you know basic HTML & CSS you'll be just fine.

When I first got into web development I had very little knowledge, but been using Joomla for around 6 years now and just learnt as I've gone along, started off with fixing bugs myself, then editing code, then writing code. You learn it naturally over time.

Just create the database, upload Joomla, go to the install file, click next -> next -> next and done.

Then you create all your content from the back, and control what your users can create, edit, publish etc from the front.

What kind of site are you looking to make?

I've built/run a clean social networking site for adults ('Just Friendly Chat')using Joomla. With profiles, content sharing, photo sharing, video sharing, blogs, forums, chat rooms, games, interest groups, events, live quizzes, even got an Atari, NES & Gameboy emulator in the site's arcade to play old Atari, Nes & Gameboy games online using Joomla.

What I love about CMS software is, your imagination really is the limit as to what you can create

Good luck with your venture, if you want any further help or wanna give a little more information to poke you in the right direction feel free to PM. Will even give you a link-back once your site's running to help your Google page rank

 

[moijk]

I've been familiarising myself with Javascript and PHP over the last few weeks, but what is retarded is that most CMS seem to require a database which is the module we start after this project gets done... :nuts:

I'll give you some pointers. after all, I've been working with developing CMS systems since '98.

 

[desiv]

I've tried looking at drupal and had a go at setting it up in WAMP but keep running into issues when setting the database up with it.

First of all, don't be afraid of Linux. It's not as hard as people claim it is.
Setup a VM (VirtualBox is nice, but any of them) on your Windows box running Linux in a VM.
A LOT of the online help is for RedHat based systems, so I'd go with CentOS (based on RedHat).

I have used both, but I agree that Joomla is a bit easier to set up.
You can then find guides on line, like this one:
http://manyrootsofallevilrants.blogspot.com/2012/02/installing-joomla-25-on-centos-62.html

And don't worry about messing it up.
It's a VM. If you do, just start again.. ;-) You learn lots more that way.

Once you have it down on Linux (remember, this stuff was built with Linux in mind, so it's easier all on Linux), then you can try a WAMP install. There are a few minor gotchas with WAMP, and understanding the Linux version first helps find them...

Good luck.

desiv
(p.s. I'm not a CMS guy. I'm a server guy (or was, more design now). So I would set up the servers and make sure Joomla/Drupal was running and working. But once it's there, I stop poking.. Unless it broke. ;-) )

 

[AmiNeo]

Thanks guys.

@ TommyToXen - I am actually overhauling a site for a charity as part of one of this years modules, but the guy who originally built it back in 2006 charged them a buttload (for a charity) and has stuck a load of complex and, im my amature opinion, unnecessary ASP in it. I can't figure it out enough to manipulate it sufficiently, and I don't want to leave them without a CMS, so without learning one myself, I am caught between a rock and a hard place as it were...
The good news is I'm not actually doing this for a web module so cheating a little would be fine, but I would like to learn as much as possible from the experience and I'm building another more basic site for the web module that I wouldn't mind sticking a CMS into. But that one cant be built 'with' a CMS, I'd need to do the construction before hand if possible.

@ Desiv - I do like Linux and to be completely honest I'd probably be using it for the majority of this year if we weren't learning C#. Because we are, I've stuck with win7 and not looked too far into LAMP or any of the linux virtual web servers.

@ Moijk - PM replied. I'd appreciate the learning assistance