> Things I want to do:
>
> - convert this site into a dynamic one, where I can very easily
> change the layout of things whenever it comes time to revamp
> the site into a new design.
I have not worked with any of the templating systems, but here is a
home-grown one. Separate the page HTML into 3 pieces. Two of the pieces form
the "shell", which is the HTML that is constant across groups of pages. The
third piece is the HTML that varies with each page. Build the two shell
files so that they form an empty <td>, into which the dynamic piece goes:
<?
include("htmlShellHead.inc");
buildCurrentPage(); // or another include()
include("htmlShellFoot.inc");
?>
Then, if you need to add a right-hand sidebar, for example, you just edit
the shell files, and all the pages using that shell get updated at once.
Simple way to update the look and feel across the whole site.
> - insert all the products, their prices and related data into
> a database (which would tie in with the above item, maybe by
> means of functions, say, 'function
> show_product('inkjet_prints')'
Sounds good.
> - make it so that those responsible for price changes can make
> their own changes to the database, so I don't have to deal with
> it every time.
Making your own forms is probably best. We have done this with Java applets,
which may be overkill for you. The main thing to think about here is
authentication: making sure people can access only their own data and nobody
else's. Also, make sure everyone involved shares a clear idea of who bears
responsibility for update mistakes. If the user has the ability to change
their data, they have the ability to screw it up. Make a clear oversight
plan: how much reviewing of their changes you will do before the changes go
live, etc.
Good luck!
Kirk
--
PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
