Hi,

I would like to add a MySQL database to my website that I have right now, but I don't know where to begin. Could someone please explain to me all the steps to getting this database? Also, how would I add to my website a feature so that people could register to the site and have their own control panel. Also, a profile page is possible.

Thanks in advance,

Do you have your own server or are you using a free hosting account? If it's yours, you will have to install SQL on it, if not - either you only need to configure the database if it's available, or you're screwed otherwise Give us more details and I'm sure someone wiser than me will help.

sorry, I havent gotten anywhere yet, and I use freewebs as hosting for now but if I know how to get it working, I'll switch to a different one.

Quote from br0nd :

I would like to reinvent the wheel.

You'll probably find more help at http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/

Quote from br0nd :

Hi,

I would like to add a MySQL database to my website that I have right now, but I don't know where to begin. Could someone please explain to me all the steps to getting this database? Also, how would I add to my website a feature so that people could register to the site and have their own control panel. Also, a profile page is possible.

Thanks in advance,

TBH, if you want that sort of freedom with a website, you are better of running your own. If you have a DSL connection, this should be no problem really...check out http://www.dslwebserver.com for an easy to follow guide/walkthrough

Quote from Bladerunner :

TBH, if you want that sort of freedom with a website, you are better of running your own.

wait, sorry im new to ALL this stuff, so if I wanted to run my own webserver, it would mean what? I would host my own websites? or does it mean that I can host the MySQL server?


Please dont kill me :banghead:

To be honest I'd say that hosting your own server is quite advanced really, unless you're a network guru like Bladerunner . I'd suggest finding some cheap web hosting, as almost every paid host will offer you a MySQL database and all the tools you need to use it. So long as you don't need much bandwidth, and unless you get several thousand hits a day, then you won't. I could suggest some good European hosts, but you'd probably want one on your side of the ocean.

Quote from Bladerunner :

TBH, if you want that sort of freedom with a website, you are better of running your own.

If availability isn't important, transfer rates aren't important, basically if the whole enterprise is entirely trivial then yes - you could run your own webserver.

Otherwise I'd rather have one hosted somewhere sensible, personally.

To the thread starter: Do you know anything about PHP, Perl or Ruby, or some other such language which will work as a server-side interpreter and be able to manipulate your database? If not, you might want to install (on your local computer) Apache, PHP and MySQL and get started there. It'll be easier to work it all out on your local box than on a remote server where you don't even know what the filesystem looks like.

Quote :

Do you know anything about PHP, Perl or Ruby, or some other such language which will work as a server-side interpreter and be able to manipulate your database?

All i know is HTML...

Quote :

I'd suggest finding some cheap web hosting, as almost every paid host will offer you a MySQL database and all the tools you need to use it.

So if I find a host that offers MySQL database, I won't need to have my own on my computer? Well I guess thats settles... Im going to look for a paid host

Well you should do that if you want a MySQL database on your web site, however it can be a good idea to install a web server with a database on your own PC just so you can mess around with it and learn how it works.

Out of interest, do you have a reason that you want to install a database, or are you just doing it for shits and giggles?

Quote from br0nd :

All i know is HTML...

Then expect a steep learning curve, because you'll need to learn SQL and a scripting language (I would recommend PHP) to bridge between your web pages and the DB. Definitely install Apache, MySQL and PHP on your local computer to get a feel for how they work together - you can get pre-packaged installers for Windows.

Quote from DarkTimes :

Out of interest, do you have a reason that you want to install a database, or are you just doing it for shits and giggles?

I wanna learn now that I have a chance so just in case I would need it in the future, i would already know it

I have recently learned HTML so that got me a bit excited and so Im planning on learning this next. + PHP

EDIT: Can I make a control panel + a profile page which can be edited in the CP using MySQL database?

Ah, OK, shits and giggles it is then.

In that case I wouldn't spend money on a database server, just install a free one on your own PC which you can mess around with.

I recommend http://www.wampserver.com/en/

Quote from br0nd :

Hi,
how would I add to my website a feature so that people could register to the site and have their own control panel. Also, a profile page is possible.
Thanks in advance,

For the login feature and for content management you could try phpnuke, which relies upon an SQL database (preferrably Mysql since it's been extensively tested).

If you don't want to experience potential troubles querying the database, I'd suggest to decide for a hosting that offers PHP and SQL.

Or you can host it at home, but this could result in availability and bandwidth problems, so it's not viable if you need to have a high availability server. You can build your own test server whenever you like, just grab some packages and install them on a machine, or, as I sometimes do, on a virtual machine.

For tests I use VMWare Player with a Debian prepackaged VM. I add to that a mail server (Postfix is fine for me), a web server supporting php (Apache), PHP5, PHPNuke (but generally I rely upon proprietary PHP code, not developed by me), MySQL. These are enough for basic requirements, but you can add more stuff to your liking and needs.

Working with a virtual machine has a lot of advantages over a real machine. You can also download a prepackaged LAMP server virtual appliance to have most of the job done. There are, however, some technicalities (like, for instance, permissions and security) that have to be addressed and tested. Some network and OS management skills are always required for administration.