Hello,

My partner and I are undergrads at a Cal State school. We have to develop a project using PHP and SQL. We are both incredibly lame creatively. We are also at a beginner level of PHP but are familiar with SQL, C++, and Javascript. Can any of you wonderful people suggest a project for a 6 week implementation that would be both fun and challenging?

Thanks so much for your help!

Meighlow

You could do any of the following...

1) Image gallery where they can upload files and show them online. Let friends view them with special permissions etc.

2) You could do a basic forum which lets users signup, add posts, and have moderators that can edit, move, delete and lock posts.

3) Create a file manager which will let people manipulate files through a web interface. Control file permissions, location of files, add/remove directories etc.

4) A "small" content management system. I say small because this could easily get you into a bigger project than 6 weeks. Perhaps limit it to managing only one file type (like text files), assigning different levels of review, management of the files location and maybe basic editing. (textarea box comes to mind)

5) Bookmark uploader and sharing system. Allow people to upload their favorites/bookmarks to the site and manage them. They can review one another's book marks and add them to their own if they like them. Add/remove bookmark folders for better organization. Extra: Allow the site to generate a new bookmark file from your online favorites which they then download and can use with their browser.

Here are just a handful of ideas. Feel free to mix and match or expand on any of them for a great 6 week project.

Enjoy!

Hello Martyr2,

Thank you so much for your fast response and great ideas. I am extremely interested in #1) Image Gallery and #6) Bookmark uploader. I have been thinking about a way to manage both, especially bookmarks. I realize, however, that I am extremely green in my field.

What would be the first steps in arranging either of these ideas(not both because I know your time is invaluable)?

Humbly,
meighlow

First thing with any topic, research. Find what support PHP has for images (for the gallery) or file manipulation (bookmark uploader). Then research what it would take to get these ideas off the ground. What resources will you need (a host with php that has GD installed for instance on the gallery) and how are bookmark files put together (research the structure of bookmark files).

Here is one of many sites you should start looking at for your bookmark uploader.

Structure of IE "favorite" files

You can then find some of your IE bookmarks in the c:\Document and Settings\useraccount\Favorites folder where useraccount is the account on windows where your documents and settings go.

The link below will get you started with the PHP image functions. You will use these to create thumbnails, change colors of images etc.

PHP: Image - Manual

After you research what you need and get the resources you need, you can get started with putting together a demo. Start small and build it up.

Good luck with the project.

Basically it's like Martyr2 said, just to add to his advice, you should also before you actually start coding anything in php, sketch the UI of your application then create all the HTML markup for the different for it. It may seem trivial to some people, so it is not mentioned often. So first create the static part of your application/website only after it's all working and checked move onto the client-side script (javascript) and then server-side(php), or you will find yourself wasting alot of time on trying to figure out what it is exactly you need the php part to do. (I kind of learned it by doing that exact mistake, but I know better now)

In addition, you might want to take a look at templating instead of echoing everything and having the design separate from the code. Although you don't have to do that it sure does look alot nicer and easier to reuse and maintain. [url= http://www.smarty.net ]Smarty[/url] is a good templating engine, but there are others out there that you might want to take a look at.

Good luck with your project .