Suggestions for database driven content management system.

[Dogbone]

I am currently building my first gambling portal/directory.

I am considering running the website through a dynamic back end
and would like to know if anyone could suggest a PHP and MySQL driven Content Management System which would suit best for this type of portal.

Please comment on those you found marvellous as well as those you have tried out that was a bit dissapointing or too difficult to customise.

Any info or tips regarding this will be appreciated as there is so many of these CMS systems (Hotscripts list more than 150 of these) available that I dont know where to start and which one to pick. Trying each one out would take months.

[pixmaster]

phpnuke

[Dogbone]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Have you used phpnuke before for a full fledged gambling directory, if yes could you maybe provide me with the url to view an example.

As a developer I have found various cms systems a bit top heavy (nuke and nuke derived ones, xoops etc) and a bit time consuming and complicated. I must also admit that for general community sites they are out of this world and full of plug-ins and valuable modules (xoops is one of my personal favs).

I am looking for something slightly more flexible and easier to configure as my PHP scripting is very rusty (last programmed php beginning 2002) and it might take me a while to customize and write my own themes. If however from your personal experience you have found phpNuke great for a gambling portal, I will be more than willing to dust of my php ref books and jump right in.

[jarvi]

I've half implemented a non-gambling related site using Mambo.

xhttp://www.mamboserver.com

Not too bad, plenty of add-ons, SE friendly URLS and gives you something that looks a bit different to the Nuke type sites. Like most of them though, the documentation is written by people very familiar with the product and so it misses a few of the basics. Is also a useful and active forum for help.

[Dogbone]

Thanks James, I downloaded and installed mambo (4.6) on Windows and one on linux. I must say I am pretty impressed with it.

[universal4]

Anyone got any recommendations on something similar that supports asp and access/sql ??

Thanks for the link to mambo...it looks interesting but I prefer to find something asp driven.

Rick
Universal4

[techwoman]

This program sounded way cool, but when I was reading about it and installation, it sounds a bit complicated for me. I have installed cgi and php scripts many times but this seems a bit more.

Is it very difficult?

Would I need to understand how to use mysql?
I have it on my web server as well as php. I have just never used it.

Now,

this needs to be installed on the server and my pc right?
Does this mean it's used to create my pages instead of Dreamweaver mx?

I just want to understand a bit more because I myself have been thinking about a db driven site.

Does a tool like this really make site upkeep faster and easier?

[Dogbone]

Lets start from the back to the front

this needs to be installed on the server and my pc right?

It definitely is required to be installed on your server. You can optionally install it on your pc. Ive got it running on W2K Server with PHP as ASAPI and mysql to test it out and run my local intranet plus my live site running on a linux redhat box.

Does this mean it's used to create my pages instead of Dreamweaver mx?

For the majority of the site you can pack a lunchbox and sent Dreamweaver to the playground for a holiday. Mambo has a built in online WYSIWYG editor (Htmlarea2) which you will use for the majority of your content. You can however design an article, e.g. review page, in dreamweaver and copy and paste the html over.

Would I need to understand how to use mysql?
I have it on my web server as well as php. I have just never used it.

Mambo does about 99.99 % of the server side coding and database administration for you. You will only need some php and mysql knowledge if you want to build custom components or modules. (this dcan always be outsourced as well).

Is it very difficult?

Hell yes!!



No Just Kidding!!! ( sis on me! ) It all sounds very intimidating but it is realy not so complicated. The whole idea behind Content Management Systems is that they are supposed to make life easier by allowing even non technical people to be able to run and manage a large and interactive database driven site with relative ease.
The administration panel is very similar to using a funky windows based program. There is a manual available for it, plus any components/modules/Add-ons you might install later usually has the required info included. These will be similar to using and installing a Macromedia Extension for Dreamweaver.

This program sounded way cool, but when I was reading about it and installation, it sounds a bit complicated for me. I have installed cgi and php scripts many times but this seems a bit more.

Installation is relatively simple. Mambo has an intuitive install that does almost everything for you. You need to know your mysql database location, username, password and database name (e.g., localhost, Tom, pass, MydataBaseName) which you enter in a form. The second thing you need to know is if your site is hosted on linux box is how to set folder permissions (chmod), and these can be done through most of your FTP programs with ease.

You dont even need to isntall it in your site's root directory. This is handy if you would like to try it out a bit without having to take down a working site.

One thing that is important to take into consideration however is that Search Engines does not like dynamic server side links and has difficulty indexing them compared to static html pages. (eg, mysite.com/reviews.htm VS. mysite.com/?cat=12&mod=rev&aID=58227 )
There is fortunately both free and commercial components that creates Search Engine Friendly links for you.

Hope this provides a suitable answer for you. The best is to download and install it. It's a lot of fun .

[techwoman]

Cool, thanks Dogbone!!!

This had definately peaked my interest

I had a look at the faq on the site that speaks about the mod for making links search engine friendly that made me very happy


I also went and looked at some working sites using mombo, I saw some not using the se friendly links and than I found one using the se friendly links.

I also really liked the way these sites looked.

I think I'm going to give it a try in a subdirectory on one of my sites, it does sound like lots of fun to learn how to use

I was reading the install directions and after re-reading over a few times, I realized you don't have to use the command line telnet stuff, so it would be like installing most of the programs I'm used to installing on the server. I use a great ftp program so that makes my life easier with the chmod's and uploading.


Here I thought I was going to make my next project upgrading my Macintosh 7500 powerpc into a G4!!!

Well I guess mombo looks like it a winner to be my next project!!!!

[jarvi]

Glad I could help. Now I really must get on and finish my own Mambo site because my partners are getting a bit upset. Spending too much time on my own sites and not enough on the others.

[techwoman]

James,

that was a truly nice find

good luck building

[ftumind]

Thanks James, I downloaded and installed mambo (4.6) on Windows and one on linux. I must say I am pretty impressed with it.

I must say that MAMBO really ROCK!
You can see my gambling portal using MAMBO at http://www.casinotalks.com

I am thinking of changing it to Search Engine Friendly system using SEF commercial component, anyone interested in sharing the component with me?
Just send me an email at affiliate@casinotalks.com
Link Exchanges is also welcomed at CasinoTalks.com

[techwoman]

Wow, your site really rocks

was that with a template or did you design the whole thing?

I often wondered how to get a site to look so nice

[ftumind]

Wow, your site really rocks

was that with a template or did you design the whole thing?

I often wondered how to get a site to look so nice

Thanks. I designed the template myself. I also released the templates under GPL. I can have a copy of it at MOSforge.net

I am finding the content for the site, is there anyone here feel interested in content exchange?