Flash PHP Blog

[bounceboy]

Hello everybody, and thank you to anybody who will help!

I want to make a flash and PHP blog. I want to make it so that I can use flash and php to make a new blog into a NEW xml file (only the admin can do that)

then people can comment without having to login or anything and then thier message is added to the xml below the Blog subject or whatever.

This will allow me to keep people updated with whats coming soon, I'll be able to hear more feedback, and my friends will be able to make posts too if I make them a special password and stuff ( i can do the password thing myself)

It would be so cool, so anybody who helps me with this is AWESOME and DESERVES ALL MY THANKS!!!!

ALSO!!!! If you can't get PHP to save to xml and make a new xml (I know how to read xml with flash) then use txt files.

so yeah, if XML doesn't work use PHP to save to txt files (I know is possible) and make new txt files (this I am not too sure of) and read txt files (use flash not php, i know how to )

[MyFriendIsATaco]

Again, like I said with the forum, if this is your thought process, don't even attempt. You need to get into databases before you even think about projects like this. Blogs and forums are complex applications. Also, just my opinion, but these types of things are better suited for plain HTML/CSS instead of all Flash. Think about it: how many blogs or forums are made in Flash vs how many are done with normal HTML.

And with blogs and forums, you can download free software and install it on your server with PHP and be up and running in no time. Wordpress comes to mind for a blog, and I suggest either bbPress or phpBB for the forums. FK is run off of vBulletin, but vBulletin isn't free.

[bounceboy]

k.

maybe just a html blog then.

but I bet i will be able to get a flash one working soon enough because...

i am getting started with microsoft databases

and i can make a flash guestbook which is really similar, except there isn't a Subject and body

[MyFriendIsATaco]

i am getting started with microsoft databases

Please don't do that. Learn MySQL, and for server side language, learn PHP. There are way more options out there for those. Access and ASP are a niche market and can't run on most servers out there. PHP and MySQL run on just about anything.

and i can make a flash guestbook which is really similar, except there isn't a Subject and body

There's also a lot more going on with an actual blog than that. Blogs typically all users to leave comments on posts, which would be an aspect that would require a database and some knowledge about tables and JOIN statements in SQL. Editing and deleting posts. Managing user accounts. Comment moderation (so you can delete bad comments). Lots of fun stuff.

I'm not trying to scare you away, just informing you about what to look for and push you in the right direction. I just want you to understand that these are simple tasks by any means, but there's only one way to learn: try it! I've gone down your route many times years ago and learned just about everything through trial and error. Once you start getting into databases, everything will start making sense and your possibilities will broaden.

Take a good look at Wordpress.org for blogging software. It's rare now-a-days that people even write these kinds of things because the solution has already been perfected by other people. Why reinvent the wheel? It's nice for a learning experience, but in the real world, it's rare that a custom written blog (or forum) would be needed. Most blogs or forums out there are skinned or slightly modified versions of finished software.

[bounceboy]

ok. I don't ussually like working with third parties, i guess i like a challenge some days. but I will probably go with just some random html blog

[MyFriendIsATaco]

Hey, once your time becomes valuable, it doesn't make sense in terms of time and cost to build something from scratch when I can install something that works perfectly and devote all of my time to appearance and customization and not have to worry about bugs and all the random issues. The several people (myself included) that put their time into projects like Wordpress assure you that they're always going to have a better product than one single person can write. The whole Wordpress team is basically working on some part of the software 24/7. Constantly fixing bugs, adding new features, etc.

[bounceboy]

good point. i guess you can't do everything as one person.