Add Things To My Site What program languages are these and are there other ways of adding th

[BooZker 0]

My sites basic outline is done, and have a few of the tutorials up, but before i go any further i want to see how i add these things to my site so i can add them in case they will be in includes so i dont have to go through dozens of pages and add them.

1. Comments. How do i make them and what program languages can i use to create them. An example of where i would put them would be at this link at the bottom of the page:

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Do you even think i should add a comments section?

2. Rating system. How could i make a rating system on my site? I would want it so there is no users and it just uses a cookie OR use the same users from my forums. Is this possible and how. And example rating system would be like here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JY1DRe=ATVPDKIKX0DER

But of course make the stars nicer looking, but how can i make something like that on my site?

Lastly and the biggest question of all is how can i set these things so you can't do them unless you login and it's the same login name and password and user accounts as the forums. So if you make a forum account you can then add comments and rate them and do not have to make a new name.

Sorry i am new to PHP and MySQL. To be honest i have no clue how to use those things other then PHP includes and when i try to learn i get more confused then before. I know CSS and HTML fluently and getting to know Javascript pretty well.

[rldowling03 0]

First of all, i think it would be a great idea to allow users to comment on your tutorials to let you know any feedback they have on if it was or wasnt helpful... etc..As for the ratings, im not sure exactly how to do it, but if i'm right you want it so the users have to login to rate on it??? Well im sure you can find a script like it, at php.resourceindex.com, i think thats the site, it has lots of pre made php scripts to easily add to your site.

[BooZker 0]

OK thanks a lot. I will be sure to check it out. Do you know if i could connect the phpbb forum and then my website for comments and ratings?EDIT: I looked on the site and i couldnt find any type of rating system other then for pictures. Have you ever seen a rating system other then picture rating on that site?

Edited January 5, 2007 by BooZker (see edit history)

[rvalkass 5]

I would use PHP and MySQL to store the information on ratings and comments. You would need two separate tables, one for ratings and one for comments. For the ratings you will need to store their user id, the post id and the rating. Comments is a similar thing: user id, post id, comment.Using the user information from your forums should not be that difficult. Without looking at the tables the user data is stored in I can't say exactly how it would work, but it shouldn't be too difficult.The rating system you have found for images would contain the same major code as a rating system for blog posts, you would just need to change a couple of things to adapt it to work for blog posts rather than images.

[BooZker 0]

So PHP comments and ratings? Do you know of where i could get a tutorial on how to do this even? I will look in the morning because its 3:30 am, but remember i am VERY new to PHP. All i know are includes. Do you know of any FREE pre-made scripts?

[fffanatics 0]

Well as for a tutorial i can not really help you but to break it down into terms you might be able to understand i will try and help. For the comment part, you would create a new php table. This table would have a field for the comment id, story id (so that you can pull all the comments just for the matching story) and the comment along with any other data you would like to include like the date, time, etc. You would write a script that would take this information and store it into the table but you have to make sure you store the story id number. Then to display the comments, just grab the data from the comment table that has the same story id number and display it.As for the ratings, you could actually just add that as a member of the comments table and then average everyone's rating for the story and display the total rating along with the rating per users comment. If you have any other implementation questions, feel free to PM me and ill help you out.

[rvalkass 5]

I have never seen a tutorial for comments or ratings becuase most CMSs and blogging solutions have things like that built in. The few tutorials out there don't go into a lot of detail and don't look too reliable. I am willing to help you to write your own, or can write one for you if you want. You can reach me on MSN, email or PM (details in my profile, or PM me), I've got quite a bit of free time this weekend.

If you do decide to go it alone then the main things you will need to research will be the MySQL functions and the echo construct. For readability and security reasons, you should read up on nl2br and htmlspecialchars. Remember, if you need any help then contact me and I shall guide you through it.

[BooZker 0]

OK i PMed you rvalkass. Thanks.

[Shahrukh 0]

Why not use a blog software like wordpress or pixie?That will give you well-developed, well-tested, optimised code for free with lots of plugins and pre-built themes; you can make your own too.P.S. I would highly recommend wordpress.

[deadmad7 4]

Why not use a blog software like wordpress or pixie?
That will give you well-developed, well-tested, optimised code for free with lots of plugins and pre-built themes; you can make your own too.

P.S. I would highly recommend wordpress.

Wordpress isn't the only thing you should use. Here, I broke it down for you -

USE WORDPRESS if you don't anything about codes and want your site to look normal and simple and clean.
USE JOOMLA if you want your site to break barriers in web design and have a powerful website.
USE DRUPAL if you want to control your users and content to the max and to have a great looking site too.
USE MAMBO if you want the same effect as joomla except in a idiot-proof way and less add ons for your site.

I hope it helps you...

[Shahrukh 0]

Wordpress isn't the only thing you should use. Here, I broke it down for you -

Agreed, but its the simplest to get things started.
And a tutorial site will usually not require the advanced features and complexity of the CMS you mentioned.

Also, I had another idea about adding comments to your site. That is: OpenSocial and a Google account.
It lets user sign in to your site using any of the Open Social networks. So people don't have to make a new account and it prevents spam.
I think they have a rating widget too.

Details here: https://developers.google.com/opensocial/?csw=1

[magnafrost 0]

Umm .. Guys .. I appreciate the intent but I think it might be just a little too late to help him with this issue. But, I like the way the thread is going. I had no idea about mambo and differences between the various CMS was also not obvious to me. So thanks

[Shahrukh 0]

Umm .. Guys .. I appreciate the intent but I think it might be just a little too late to help him with this issue. But, I like the way the thread is going. I had no idea about mambo and differences between the various CMS was also not obvious to me. So thanks

Wow. You are right. I never noticed the date when posting that reply.
But it will help people to come. Like it helped you, a bit.

[deadmad7 4]

Agreed, but its the simplest to get things started.

And a tutorial site will usually not require the advanced features and complexity of the CMS you mentioned.

 

Also, I had another idea about adding comments to your site. That is: OpenSocial and a Google account.

It lets user sign in to your site using any of the Open Social networks. So people don't have to make a new account and it prevents spam.

I think they have a rating widget too.

 

Details here: https://developers.google.com/opensocial/?csw=1

 

I know -- its as easy as the famous 5 minute install but after that things don't get any easier -- that's just have wordpress is. IF you are going you use WordPress, and I think you should then you use a plug in called 'DisQus' for comments -- its the best comment system in any cms and any SITE. You could have central DisQus account and use it on all your sites to comment. It also has a avatar and a reply button. The admin's comment is also green color so that users can easy find them. Major sites like Lifehacker use this -- so its bugs and everything have been sorted out and PLUS ITS FREE!

 

Umm .. Guys .. I appreciate the intent but I think it might be just a little too late to help him with this issue. But, I like the way the thread is going. I had no idea about mambo and differences between the various CMS was also not obvious to me. So thanks

 

I don't know about this one -- what if someone else has the same problem or a similar one? This is a very common issue with people new to web design and this topic could help them all.

 

Wow. You are right. I never noticed the date when posting that reply.

But it will help people to come. Like it helped you, a bit.

 

Really? Us resurrecting a old topic is a good thing -- just added one more post to help solve issue.

[Shahrukh 0]

I know -- its as easy as the famous 5 minute install but after that things don't get any easier -- that's just have wordpress is.

Still, man, its easier than, say, MediaWiki. Even I had trouble setting it up for the first time: its pretty hard to configure all the settings.

Really? Us resurrecting a old topic is a good thing -- just added one more post to help solve issue.

You answered that yourself:

...what if someone else has the same problem or a similar one? This is a very common issue with people new to web design and this topic could help them all.