Advice on a Project

[magfersile]

I have been tasked with creating a website for my department that will be mostly informational. My manager wanted to have a bulletin board system within it. This is where I'm having the issue. I am not allowed to use an outside hosting source, so there will be no server to bounce PHP scripts off of. So what I've been looking for is some form of client side technology that would let me at least mimic some type of forum system. Any ideas or feedback you could provide would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[bookworm99]

You could install PHP onto the server you're using... or install a different kind of system like CGI.

 

[magfersile]

I had thought about that, but wouldn't I need to install something to run the PHP? like Apache? Basically what it comes down to, is I do not have privileges to install anything on my work computers, and by install, I mean anything that makes changes in the registry in order to run properly. So, if there is a way to run PHP without a program that has to be "installed", then by all means, let me know.

 

[mattura]

Your manager cannot ask an impossible task of you!
You must have full access if you are in any kind of technical position. This is a basic requirement! If needs be, the manager can change the passwords after you've finished!
Is it a windows or linux server? Are you sure PHP/.net/perl or similar is not already installed? There is often something!

 

[kkenny]

If it is a windows server, hope that you have php working on it, because their are not many decent ASP scripts out there.

If it is a linux server, hopefully you have php/perl/python working to install a script.

If you do not have any language that would be able to work, you would have to use something like an AJAX/flash thing or something like that. But hopefully ou have a database, without a database it's nearly impossible.

 

[magfersile]

I realize that this is a bit of a stretch to try and make work. I think I may be getting ready to throw in the towel on this project unless my manager can talk the right people into giving me the access that I need. I mean, this just seems like a losing battle.

As far as the server software being used, I have no idea. The intranet is maintained by a different department. Would it be possible to create a java applet that works with text files for a bulletin board system?

 

[kkenny]

Java yeah, but that depends on your level of java, because at this point, having a client based script is good, if it's going to be private, because no one will really steal your script. But on the otherside, you still need a database for the forum to work.

 

[tnl2k7]

This is impossible. Can't you just set up VMWare and have a Linux virtual machine in there, then install PHP, MySQL and all on there? If you can't, there's no way this is going to work and you need to ask for the right permissions.

-Luke.

 

[DeadBattery]

You could run it off of your computer/router's IP address.
You could use XAMPP, http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html, which has everything, PHP, MySQL, Apache etc.
I know Macs come pre-installed with Apache, but XAMPP isn't too hard to set up.
Good Luck; I suggest phpBB for forum software.

 

[magfersile]

Thank you everyone for posting. I found all of it to be helpful.

I had no idea things such as XAMPP existed, and it looks like I should be able to extract and run it without making changes in the registry, so hopefully IS wont throw a fit. That's what I'm going to try next, and I'll let you guys know if it works. Thanks again.

 

[tnl2k7]

The problem with XAMPP in a production environment is that it's not very well 'optimised'. It's good for use as a test server, but as a main server running loads of resource-intensive PHP scripts it might not work well.

It's also not very secure, you'll need to read the security section of the XAMPP FAQ for instructions on locking it down. You may also want to rename the 'htdocs/xampp' directory, as it may give a little too much information away to would-be hackers.

Just a few thoughts.

-Luke.

 

[magfersile]

Thanks again guys. XAMPP is exactly what I was looking for. I'm not too worried about security, because there will only be about 10 people or so that will ever see it, and it wont be visible from outside the intranet. I've officially hit the ground running with the website design and I should be able to have it up soon.