Web Help Needed

Web Help Needed

I started developing my own web site due to the unethical conduct of 2 different web developers, which cost me and arm and then a leg. I do not use any web developing program and basically just mastered html and css3 and started touching php but would like to ask some questions (not for someone to do my work) because I’m stuck with two problems that I hopefully can solve on my own. Anyone prepared to help a beginner or to direct me to the answers? I use Notepad++ and will start with my database (MySQL) once my pages are complete (and then more questions).

What route must I follow to make a massif drop down list?

1) If I do it in the normal way it’s just to long to be reasonable? If I sub categorize I will still have 50+ items in 3 coulombs. It cannot sub divide any more because the names are unique.
2) If I use the select/submit option, how do I do the links and/or bypass the submit button?
3) Mhtm to html and css looks messy with a lot of seemingly unneeded coding in the s and body> tags.
4) I haven’t looked at java scrip and try to stay clear of it, but will if it is the only route.

Users will be able to upload a pre-sized thumbnail that will be displayed. However to prevent favoritism I would like the thumbnails to rotate. 8 thumbnails can fit in 1 row and it will even be better if the rows can rotate. I downloaded some free programs/code that claims to do that, but this beginner doesn’t even know what he’s looking at, never mind implementing it. Any pointers?

Other general questions:

1) What is the take on ATS using the “include” function in php, which really make my html/php documents look very neat, against the fragmentation problems I read it is likely to cause on the server side?
2) I saved all my validated html files with php extensions and do not have a problem running them on my local Wamp server. Any foreseeable problems on an external server?

Thanx

Too many questions for me to answer right at this moment, will get back later if I have time, but I will just say this. Whatever methods you use, test them in as many browsers as possible because results vary from browser to browser.

a reply to: ICycle2

Honestly I think your best route, considering you're essentially doing a one-man-army towards a dynamic web application, is to go with a CMS like Wordpress or Drupal [both will use PHP and MySQL]. There are plugins and modules for those CMSs that do the functionality you're describing. You could also go the route of a web framework like Php's Laravel or Python's Django.

If you want to 'hand roll' this web application yourself then becoming comfortable with _javascript is inevitable for this to be realistically done. You'll encounter more issues related to your front-end scripting.

I also recommend checking out Sublime as an editor. You might favor it over Notepad ++.

I hope that helps. Depending on the scope of your project it might just be relatively smooth and a huge time savor to explore Wordpress and Drupal / their plugins and modules to see how much it can accomplish without needing to tweak the _javascript or php.

As far as a cms goes, i am a WordPress user myself. I have it installed on my server and it works great. You can edit the css to your hearts desire. They have a great management area as well.

With a little time, you can remove all the WordPress branding and things of that nature and give your site i real custom tailored look.

Otherwise get real comfortable with php and _javascript cause there is no other way about it.

I have started falling for bluefish myself. Its best feature is the list of common tags, saves a lot of typing. Notepad++ is my other go to editor.

Thanks, I got Drupal And Wordpress. Can I ask questions via message? I do have to many basic things I'm missing that I need to understand before I can continue which I do not want to discuss on a open forum. I will need to explain what I have in mind for someone to give me directions. For now I only want to start the free side which is my marketing tool. It will eventually be a massif site on its own server if the marketing side prove the site could work.