Making An Ads Site in PHP/MySQL

[wizard]

I really want to make a site in PHP/MySQL that allows users to login/logout of there own user area where they can advertise certain things. They can upload pictures etc to their advert, include links to websites email etc. Also I would like to add a payment facility so they have to pay to have a user name etc. Kind of like the friends reunited website?

[BadBob]

So whats your question? Some general advice, payment systems on websites are very expensive. You need a merchant bank account with the ability to accept payments via a credit card. But the banks are not generally happy with you knocking up a bit of code to do the payment processing so you need a payment provider. These vary in cost from a transaction fee of X% of each transaction or a fixed fee of say �30 plus a % of the transaction fee. Some banks insist you use a particular set of Suppliers. Then there's the big problem of marketing , if you have a shop people can stroll past and see it, with the web you don't have that, you simply must have some sort of budget for advertising and I'm not talking a few quid. Try and think of all the successfull on-line retailers, the one thing they have in common is they have spent loads on advertising and I mean loads. What your asking is fairly easy technically its the marketing/setup costs which will be the problem. If you actually have a question we can try and answer that.

[wizard]

How can I setup a website as described?

[BadBob]

How longs a piece of string. I would guess if your asking the question you have no idea. Do you have any experience of PHP or MySQL or programming in general, I'm not trying to be rude but if you don't know then I think its going to be exrememly difficult for you to do. Creating a web page is pretty straight forward, using PHP and MySQL is a different matter. You could possibly put something together but you need the experience to know all the pit falls. Have you ever seen a computer reference book, they are way over 1000 pages, that will give you the basics but its not going to tell you how to do it exactly, that all comes with experience. You can buy basic PHP/MySQL books but unless you have programmed computers for a while I doubt they will be much help. Try this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/032118648
6/qid=1078506945/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_11_2/202-4365884-8365404

[BadBob]

I know I might sound a little negative but its like somebody asking, how do I make my own car out of an engine some wheels and a bit of metal.

[SavageMonkey]

If there was an answer to this question that would fit onto answerbank then people wouldn't get paid many thousands of pounds to do it as a profession.

[lisaj]

I'd have a crack at it... :-)

In short, you will make VERY heavy use of PHP's mysql_connect, mysql_selectdb, mysql_query, mysql_fetach_assoc and mysql_close functions. If you design your DB schema properly, your queries will be simple, and fast. Heavy use of the PHP include function is also paramount to quick deployment of such a project, as it enables you to modularise your chunks of code, eg. one chunk for querying and displaying users, another for adverts, etc. You'd just include then when appropriate to do so.

Whilst it is certainly true that dynamic sites are far more complex than static ones, it's all in the planning... spend a day with a pad of paper and map out your DB schema and your site flow - then you can identify where your data will need to flow in and out. You'll end up with a fairly obvious action plan that can be dealt with one step at a time in quick succession.

As for payment processing, BadBob is right: you'll need a third party payment processing solution, or just take money through paypal (which is a kind of half way solution)

If you need more help, just write back :-) Good luck

[ryrobinson]

Download the open source Content Management System from http://www.e107.org. You will have to study mySQL and PHP and study databases. You can assume 200 hours of development, trial and error. http://www.opensourcecms.com tells you a lot and you can demo CMSs online, too.