Grade 1 level 1........humm help

[The Lizard Man]

Ok...I'm new to the forum and would like to get some needed input from some of you....computer wizards.

I'm the webmaster for a local club and would like to install a form that club members could fill out and submit to a table with set fields. (the site is paid out of my pocket and is all volunteer work)
So paying for someone else to do it is out of the question, since I'm not making any money of this.

Example:

DATE:____
Species sighted:_________
Number sighted:___
County sighted in:______________
Name of club member:_____________


I also would have an additional column on the table for installing hyperlinks to photos of each sighting.

Here's what I have currently: Flat web service ( no optional stuff)

I'm working with FP2K but have a education of grade 1 level 1 when it comes to writing scripts.
Any help or direction to a good site for (hummm) dumbies would be helpful !!
Thanks,
The Lizard Man
www.americanlizards.com

[tom]

LM,

Because of the generosity of PowWeb members, I am able to 'forward' some strong suggestion to you.

1) You'll have to initiate MySQL for this approach
through PowWeb. The downside (maybe) is that it is a one-time fee of $30.00. The upside is that as long as you keep your site active with PowWeb you never pay this fee again.

2) PHP resource location is: http://www.php.net/
Here you WILL find answers to your questions, code, tutorials, etc.

3) It was suggested to me to INVEST in 'PHP Essentials' by Julie Meloni. "She pretty much holds your hand through the type of interaction you seek". I got it at Amazon for $31.98 which included shipping. It's also possible to find this guide in used book locations.

There are other answers I am sure, BUT I can attest that this will work!

[The Lizard Man]

Thanks Tom.

I've started printing out some of the reading material and will be going out and getting the book this weekend.

I take it that this SySQL will most likely NOT be a 5 minute project? lol From what I have read so far, I might be pouring cold water over my brain while I'm trying to get the form done.

I started a FP form and asked if I could use it on powweb and was quickly shot down because of the .asp use. Here's what I had done:
www.americanlizards.com/New_Folder/testpage45.asp

Was in the middle of building the submit form when I came back here and checked the forum and found I was wasting my time.

Is there anyway I can use some of my html code from the above page when building my data table? I'd like to have this design on the data table.
Thanks
TLM

[tom]

The Lizard Man (I LIKE IT!!)

Good Morning.

As the subject line indicates, I am far from your best resource at PowWeb. There are some very generous young programmers in these forums who seem to be VERY willing to lend a helping hand.

Here's what I have for you so far. Please keep in mind that the following is an observation, NOT ADVICE! Folks don't like advice LM!

anyway. . ..asp, .jsp, ColdFusion, and the likes have obviously carved a lasting place amongst WebDevelopers, and yet, the Open Source apps are SUPER for us for many reasons. One of the HUGE reasons, in my view, is IF and WHEN you move a site from one commercial host to another, the possibility of 'platform identification' issues is likely. With MySQL, and PHP - it is LIKELY that your scripts will work well with little or no modification subsequent to a 'move'.

In other words (MINE to be precise) you have NOT wasted ANY time on your endeavors thus far, BUT why not spend your valuable time on development and creativity which can be utilized nearly ANYWHERE you (or your client's - in your specific case) choose to have your site hosted?!

I found it helpful to dedicate some time to read through each and every entry in the PowWeb PHP/MySQL forum. I believe you'll not only find some VERY good BASIC info, but those members who REALLY know this stuff, and as mentioned before, are willing to share.

I feel compelled to point out that even though I may be of very little assistance to you, I will continue to invite your questions and YOUR HELP as you plow through and make progress on your own web projects.

PLEASE, if any of you BRIGHT, YOUNG programmers have read Lizard Man's requests and my responses, find inaccuracies - PLEASE correct them so I don't steer TLM wrong!!

The Joy is in The Journey,

[middleground]

Lizard Man-
Depending on the the amount of data one will be getting and what you want to do with it (sort / filter / etc.), this could also be done in perl / cgi to a text file.

I am working on a guest book script that show this-
http://www.mywebthing.com/cgi-bin/GB/gblist.pl

Also- I have another guestbook I hacked to get a static html file- and it is form entry, can select a couple different text files (I use five total)- example of output is:
http://www.mywebthing.com/AutoLogs/SiteLog.html

The second script I can send you for tweaking, hell either one of them I guess (the first is kinda a project for eventual download) but its not like I am giving up a lifes work.

Or- maybe some other perl / cgi dude can help out.

[The Lizard Man]

I liked the first site link. If you don't mind sending me a copy....and I'll see if I can't chop it up a bit (hopefully no errors).

It would be very helpful, I'm sure. Since writing my own code would never work.
Thanks for the offer....and if I get it up and running and it looks ok to you too, I'll put a icon link to your site if you'd like?
Thanks again,
The Lizard Man

[middleground]

Originally posted by The Lizard Man
I liked the first site link. If you don't mind sending me a copy....and I'll see if I can't chop it up a bit (hopefully no errors).
It would be very helpful, I'm sure. Since writing my own code would never work.
Thanks for the offer....and if I get it up and running and it looks ok to you too, I'll put a icon link to your site if you'd like?
Thanks again,
The Lizard Man

Give a little bit to zip it up. I am sure it will take some hacking to get to suit your needs, but once you look at it- let me know how you feel about it. It is a couple of files and is documented somewhat- it should be pretty clean. Also- I need to write a quick note on it.

Just FYI- I have a version of this running on my alumni site (shameless plug) @ CAHS-Alumni (http://www.cahsalumni.com) which is hosted on Powweb. No need for the link- it isn't that great.

[middleground]

Originally posted by The Lizard Man
If you don't mind sending me a copy

OK- all ready, all I need is an email address (I tried sending from here, but no go- you have option turned off).

Just email me: Mike <middleground@mywebthing.com> and I send you the zip file.