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Intro to APACHE, MySQL, and PHP & freely available ( hackable ) Packages. Aonghus Sugrue 04 Oct 2012. Apache, PHP, and MySql. WHAT? Apache as a web server Php as a server side scripting language MySql as a database
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Intro to APACHE, MySQL, and PHP & freely available (hackable) Packages AonghusSugrue 04 Oct 2012
Apache, PHP, and MySql WHAT? • Apache as a web server • Php as a server side scripting language • MySql as a database • You will use HTML, CSS, Javascript, Jqueryetc with the bundle above WHY? • Open Source – free!!! • Good as proprietary – even Facebook use it! • Lightweight • Many freely available bundles built using it – Wiki, Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, OpenCart
Setting up Development Environment • You can install all 3 of these separately and then configure them to work together: DONT! • Packages freely available for download that allow for one quick installation: • XAMPP (http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html) choose the installer and not the zipped files! • WAMP
Setting up Development Environment Type http://localhost into your web browser. Please note this page will not display if the APACHE server is not started as per the previous slide!!
Setting up Development Environment • When your apache server is running it is looking at the htdocs folder within the XAMPP folder installed on your computer. Most likely location: C:/Xampp/htdocs • For WAMP it will be the wwwroot folder • In english, what this means is the server lloks at this folder for your webpages. • This is where you put your .php, html, css, javascript files
Setting up Development Environment • Add some php code and save • Go to w3schools.com to learn php and mysql.
Working with MySql in XAMPP • Go to browser and type http://localhost • At the xampp homepage click on phpmyadmin • This is a GUI system that you can use to work with the MySQL database engine • Note: default user is “root” and password is not set, i.e. “”
PhpmyAdmin • Easy to figure out • Create some databases and tables • Mess around with it
Integrating php and mysql • W3schools is a good resource to learn php and mysql • Learn them separately on their own first before integrating them. • W3schools has tutorials that show how to integrate them. • A great book is “Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One”
You can learn all the technical stuff to do with php and mysql on your own time. • Now we’ll look at taking an existing package and using it on your XAMPP or other development setup
Content Mgt Systems (CMS) • Many developed already and freely available • Examples: Joomla, Wordpress, Drupal, etc • To run these you either need a hosting package online or a development environment (e.g. XAMPP or WAMP) • Also the CMS above are all built using PHP and MySql and as such you need development environment or hosting that can handle these these
CMS – Example Wordpress • Go to wordpress.org (NOT .com) • Download the source files
CMS – Example Wordpress • Extract the files into a folder in your server folder (i.e. htdocs if using XAMPP)
CMS – Example Wordpress • Rename the folder to something appropriate: your new site, blog, etc • Go to your browser and type in http://locahost/[whatever_name_you_gave_the_wordpress_folder]
CMS – Example Wordpress • Screen will say there is no configuration file. For some other packages you may need to alter that separately.
CMS – Example Wordpress • Go back to your database and create a blank database • Go back to the browser and insert the database name, username (will be “root” unless you changed it), and password leave blank, and leave the host as “localhost” • Click next and your done. Your wordpress install should be complete and its up to you what you do next!! • It is very flexible and hackable – learn php and mysql and then you will be able to customise as you wish!!
CMS – Example Wordpress • Next page will give you option to login • From then on, if you want to login to the backend you go to the directory where you extracted the wordpress files: note above that I extracted the wordpress files to the folder mynewwebsite in the htdocs folder. As such, you can access the login at http://localhost/mynewwebsite/wp-login.php
Wordpress – What the site looks like • Go to http://localhost/mynewwebsite
Up to you how to customise it • You can either choose from the many 100s (maybe 1000s) of design themes. • You can build your own theme; e.g. skelligslandscaping.ie is built using wordpress and I created a custom wordpress theme. Good tutorial, a little old at this stage, is http://webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/building-custom-wordpress-theme • Codex at wordpress.org has plenty information on wordpress files
3 examples of Wordpress Use • aonghussugrue.wordpress.com – uses wordpress.com to create website. This options means “.wordpress” will be included in domain name. Good for familiarising yourself with wordpress • Skelligslandscaping.ie – Completely built using wordpress (i.e. all content managed by logging into wordpress backend) • Linx.ie – Footer section of every page and blog page are wordpress driven; the rest of the website is managed through standard .php and html files outside of wordpress (note: this site is not fully live yet: temporary location = http://preview1.reg365.net/linx.ie
Up to you how to customise it • Plugins allow you to add whatever features you need from shopping carts to calendars to social media widgets. • If a plugin does not exist for your specific need, then you can always build it yourself:- • Could be good commercial opportunity if you build a good plugin • Some plugin developments are worthy of project in and of themselves
Other Examples • Similar process for most other packages: • Mediawiki for a wiki • Drupal and Joomla for different CMS • OpenCart for full e-commerce site