My first PHP / MySQL app - what's the next step?

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My first PHP / MySQL app - what's the next step?

Hello All,

I'm developing my first web application using PHP, MySql, and HTML, but I'm at a roadblock: now I have to start piecing all the pages, modules, and included files into an actual 'application'. I'm really trying to make this an answerable question, and not a discussion topic, but now I'm thinking about 'web design' - and I don't want to have to learn css and all that, because I want to speand my time programming and not designing. So what I'd like is a utility where I can visually design, say a menu bar, and just paste the code into my application where I can work with it. Or I want to format text visually, and paste the css file into my application. I guess what I want to easily design a layout with forms, images and graphics, and have them show up with my dynamic tables. So my question is - is it a good option to go with a big design program like Dreamweaver for this, or is there an easier way? I'm not really even a programmer (can you tell?), and I'm figuring this out as I go. As an aside, I'm pretty pleased with what I've got so far - I think the functions and modules are pretty useful, and the end product (however I get there) will be great. Apologies for the rambling question, and any advice is really appreciated.

+1 A:

I think even if you don't want to become a "web designer", it's still worth learning the basics of CSS. Just read through the W3Schools CSS tutorial - that will give you enough to get started, and won't take long.

I wouldn't recommend going the Dreamweaver route - you'll learn a lot more if you code by hand.

Skilldrick 2010-09-24 13:48:51

Thanks - I had a feeling this was going to be the answer, and I'm into the tutorials right now!

Reg H 2010-09-24 14:45:25

+3 A:

You should really learn HTML and CSS or alternatively hire a web designer. Code produced by Dreamweaver and similar programs is terrible. Especially if you try to mix it with PHP you'll get problem. Really, at least write the markup yourself, the styling may be done by another person ;)

nikic 2010-09-24 13:49:01

To add to this, if you keep your naming conventions very consistent and add classes to parts of your app that you believe should look the same, it should be very straightforward to add some simple styles to create a clean UI, even if you aren't the one who does it.

dave 2010-09-24 13:52:45

+3 A:

In a perfect world, development would happen entirely independently of design and you could focus on only what most interests you.

But that isn't reality.

Learning HTML and CSS will be invaluable if you expect to have any success with this project or your next. And they are not that hard to learn.

My advice? Download Notepad++ (or TextWrangler if you're on a Mac), FireFox, FireBug, and start playing around. Do some tutorials. Force yourself to go through the process.

No reason to avoid learning something.

clifgriffin 2010-09-24 13:53:37

"No reason to avoid learning something" +1 - especially when it doesn't take long to learn. Knowledge never leaves you.

Skilldrick 2010-09-24 14:52:28

Yeah. And, continuing the thought...once you learn CSS, you magically already know the basics of jQuery selectors. So, you know, that's kind of cool.

clifgriffin 2010-09-24 15:41:55

Thanks all. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for learning new stuff - in this case it was just a matter of not having a lot of time, and I was looking for a shortcut. I always look for an easy way to do something first, and failing that then move on to the more time-consuming answer.And right now I'm going through the tutorials that Skilldrink suggested, and css isn't as bad as I thought! I's say within another couple of hours, I'll have my first external style sheet.

Reg H 2010-09-24 17:19:15

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My first PHP / MySQL app - what's the next step?

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