what do you create your site with?

[Reanimated]

Hi
What do you use to create your website? Ive considered using PHP, but I dont really have time to learn it. Is there some simple "Drag and Drop" (like FrontPage), but for PHP? Or does it all have to be coded. I know you can get code, but is there an easier way than coding the exact position of an image. It probably doesnt really matter, but im just curious as to what you recommend and why.

[MattInglot]

Well PHP is just a scripting language that you can use to, among other things, generate HTML. Stuff like "coding the exact position of an image" is actually an HTML matter. PHP can be used to dynamically generate HTML which is how things like this forum work. Dragging and dropping PHP wouldn't make too much sense because it isn't part of the layout. I believe that most WYSIWYG editors these days are able to work correctly when PHP is present in the code, that's I think the closest you'll get to PHP support.

If you want drag-and-drop dynamic stuff there's always ASP.NET but that would be overkill * infinity for an indie game site.

Personally I use a text editor and a combination of PHP, mySQL and XHTML to create my sites.

[Quest Engine]

Trellian WebPAGE is the best FREE wysiwyg editor I found (and I tried a bunch). I made some basic pages in that, and then I modified some small stuff and added php in a text editor.

[Kai Backman]

Text editor (Emacs) for editing. PHP/MySQL for site services. Topstyle (www.bradsoft.com/topstyle/) for Style Sheets and checking layout. Might start using Smarty (http://smarty.php.net) with next rewrite.

I would recomend learning a web scripting language and a database. You will probably need to augment traffic trackers with custom code at some point and do other web site specific applications. PHP isn't the best of languages but gets the job done. IMHO the amount of content on an Indie site is small (under a few hundred pages) while the need for applications and customizations is high..

[Reanimated]

Can I use FrontPage to create the site and add PHP? If so, how would I add PHP code from within Frontpage?
Thanks

[mathgenius]

Ive considered using PHP, but I dont really have time to learn it.

Are you sure about that? (http://www.php.net/manual/en/introduction.php)

If you know html, PHP looks like a breeze. We're all coders anyway, right?

Simon.

[Reanimated]

If thats the case, then could I just create the layout of my site in FrongetPage or something, and just open it in notepad and add the PHP scripts within the text file?
Just wondering, as an indie site (selling games), what would be the advantage of using PHP? Am I right in thinking that all the purchasing is done off site at Plimus or Regnow?
Thanks for the replies :)

[stan]

I used Netscape Composer at the very beginning to try a few layout ideas, then switched to my favorite text editor to finish/continue the HTML.

Using PHP and MySQL. PHP isn't mandatory as long as you don't wish to automate stuff... but I use it to generate "static" pages (which is bad for the server since it uses resources to generate a page each time it is served, even though it never changes... but well...). For example <?php screenshot("game1"); ?> could generate the HTML code to display a screenshot, so that you don't have to cut & paste for every screenshot...

PHP can also be useful to log page accesses, referers, file downloads... But you can probably get those from your server logs too.

Finally, things that requires server-side scripting (eg php) are for example a system that stores customer info in a database when a game is bought, so that the customer can redownload it later or download updates, a newsletter system, or simply a contact form that hides your email address from the web (and spambots).

If you know C, PHP should be easy to learn. But if you don't need it.. don't use it ;)

[lexaloffle]

Is it really necessary to be able to specifiy the exact position of an image visually? I find that using tables in html is a good solution for most of my page layout needs, as there is no need to measure things all the time so that they are positioned correctly. Also it is easy to set them up so that the content resizes elegantly (for larger font sizes etc.).

For my last website update I started using the gcc precompiler to preprocess my html files. It's great! You can have large /* */ commented sections, #include headers and footers, omit text #if you want to and #define macros to encapsulate common patterns. And the result is a bunch of lightweight, static html files.

[svero]

I use an msdev project to run a batchfile and the c++ preprocessor as well as my own little search and replace app. The final thing is a set of pages that uses php, a little javascript, and mysql.

[tentons]

Are you sure about that? (http://www.php.net/manual/en/introduction.php)

I learned PHP in about a week. For the basic web stuff, it doesn't take much, but there's actually a lot more to it, so I didn't learn all of PHP in a week (far from it). Still, if you know C/C++ and HTML, the syntax is really simple. I have plans to make my website more than a website, so I'm building up to that and actually need a language like PHP to pull it off.

As for "positioning an image" type stuff, that's layout and should be done with CSS (http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/). HTML is structural (how your information is structured), CSS is presentation (how to show it to the user), and PHP is control (handling interactions with the information). If you just want something really simple, though, WYSIWYG is probably the best option. HTML, CSS, and PHP is quite a learning curve if you don't already know some of it (but worth it once you do).

Enough of my banter.

[Reanimated]

Ive tried some tutorials ive found, and PHP does seem to be pretty easy. What is MySQL, and how is it used? Also, as an indie site which sells games, would basic PHP be enough (or is it even required?).
Thanks for the help.

[MattInglot]

PHP is not required, it's just extremely helpful. One of the simplest yet most powerful uses of PHP is being able to generate an HTML page out of multiple files. This allows you to separate content and design without being tied to a program like DreamWeaver.

mySQL is a database system. It's not hard to use either and basically provides a very powerful way of storing and retrieving data, and has become the standard for most PHP run websites. You'll typically find Linux, Apache, mySQL, and PHP as a webserver config. Initially you might not really find a use for mySQL and you should definitely put off learning it until you have a site up and have PHP figured out. mySQL becomes useful when you move on to doing something like creating a customer login system or developing custom customer tracking systems.

[oNyx]

[...]
For my last website update I started using the gcc precompiler to preprocess my html files. It's great! You can have large /* */ commented sections, #include headers and footers, omit text #if you want to and #define macros to encapsulate common patterns. And the result is a bunch of lightweight, static html files.

I did something silliar some days ago, but with php :)

Yes, really. I used ".htm" as extension, added htm to the php parser, wrote the page and then... mirrored it off my local webserver. Haha.

It's really great if you need lots of static pages. Fortunately my host supports php, mysql, ssi etc. I would miss php alot (and mysql - highscores anyone? ;))

[Nick Bischoff]

Frontpage makes some really ugly code (almost as bas as word). Id look at another wysiwyg editor or mayby do some hand coding. Dreamweaver produces 'neater' code than most editors.