Php

[RichM8027]

Does anybody here know if you actually need MySQL to do Forums in PHP??? Muchly appreciated if someone answers:happysad:

 

[zapperpost]

I never heard of a forum that does not use MySQL, but it is possible to just use PHP, although that is so much more insecure.

 

[DeadBattery]

The popular ones like phpBB and SMF all use an SQL database. It doesn't strictly have to be MySQL though.
Next time, please post this type of question in "Scripts and 3rd Party Apps".

 

[VPmase]

The popular ones like phpBB and SMF all use an SQL database. It doesn't strictly have to be MySQL though.
Next time, please post this type of question in "Scripts and 3rd Party Apps".

Exactly

You could use the fopen() fread() and fwrite() method to make one but thats way more complicated.

 

[TheMan177]

Most forum software written in PHP utilize mySQL databases, since it's one of the most well known and used out there at the moment. You can still get software that uses other systems such as Oracle and PostgreSQL, and some that use no database at all.

 

[sonicsshadow]

You COULD make a forum using php and not a MySQL database, but i'd be a pain. You could just write to files; it's very possible.
However, it wouldn't be as easy to do and it would be harder to make some of the advanced functions.

 

[klnce]

One database is necessary for a forums it can be IBM DB2 or Open source Mysql or Oracle or Microsoft's sql server 2008 or Post Gre. And you need one server side language to connect it. X10hosting.com provides PHP as it is open source. And they also give mysql and postgre databases. Either you can desingn forum using that.

or install a forum from fantasico
phpBB or SMF
just one or two click will do.


------------------------------------
My site is http://klnce.elementfx.com

 

[richm8026]

I'm actually trying to write a Forums from scratch... I'm just now starting to understand how they work

 

[LHVWB]

Well, if you are writting one from scratch using php, then I would recommend using mysql, there is (as far as I can tell) a lot more documentation for using MySQL with PHP then for other database types.

Here are some useful references:
http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/php_mysql_intro.asp
http://au2.php.net/mysql
http://hudzilla.org/phpwiki/index.php?title=Databases

 

[richm8026]

Thanks, I am actually studying some PHP with MySQL, and finally starting to understand how Databases work =).. I was creating the tables with Plain HTML, but I noticed, I didn't have to do that, I can use PHP to do that. I know it'll be tougher, but it'll be well worth it.

 

[LHVWB]

PHP and MySQL are definetly useful tools for web design, its good to learn them properly. If you need any help with them, then you can ask on these forums, there are quite a few experienced people around.

 

[richm8026]

I'm not 100% sure how MySQL works though, I always install it, but never seem to get it to work right, maybe it's because I'm pretty new to MySQL and have a little more experience with PHP, but, yeah, my book showed quite a few things, I uploaded the file in the tutorial thing, and I got a syntax parse error Unexpected '=' on line 10, I even went over my code again, it all matched my book, so I don't know why it said that

 

[LHVWB]

I would recommend using Xampp if you need mysql, php and apache for your local server/computer. Its very useful, and it will set itself up automatically without much configueration.

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

 

[richm8026]

Well, Majority of the time, I use Linux, I keep getting errors about root passwords

 

[Hazirak]

You don't need to use MySQL. As others have said, there are other SQL-based database systems such as PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle, the list goes on. You could also simply dump all relevant information to plain text files and read those as needed (just make sure you hash (also called one-way encryption, crypt() in PHP) sensitive information such as passwords since theoretically, they will be readily available to anyone who knows where they are... chmod() can also be your friend here).

The advantage of using something like MySQL is in the fact that SQL databases are hard to directly access by their very nature. Text files in a public-facing folder tend to be easier to get a hold of.

 

[richm8026]

Yeah, if MySQL is a lot more Secure, then that's the way to go, I haven't actually learned encrypt(); yet, or chmod();, I'm still studying the book

 

[Nathan H]

the easiest way to encrypt is MD5(<String>);
There are plenty of tutorials on the internet for mySQL, reading a few of them will get you up and running in no time

 

[richm8026]

Thanks, I kind of wished Javascript could support everything that PHP supports, Javascript seems to be a little easier to understand, I really would like onmouseover="effects" Menus, those are nifty, and saves room on your pages as well, I like the stuff they have on DHTML, but, I'd rather create my own scripts =-)