Site structure

1. Introduction
2. Tools overview
3. Site structure
4. Database creation
5. Site configuration
6. Creating a Frameset
7. Creating the Menu
8. Contents Frame
9. Backend Structure
10. User Admin Page
11. Master Index Page
12. Detail Index Page
13. Conclusion

Practical workshop

Site structure

The KTMLtutorial site will have three functional sections: a dynamic menu on the left side, a content frame on the right side and an administration section. The content frame will display a page with HTML content or a list of records from a table.

The KTMLtutorial website content will be managed using a CMS (Content Management System), in a site section protected with username and password. As one of the most complex tasks until now was the creation of this management section, we’ll emphasise how easy it is to create such a system with our tools.

Dynamic menu

The dynamic menu will be placed in the left side frame. This menu will allow site navigation. It can have a variable menu items number as it is dynamically generated from a dedicated table in the database. When a menu item is clicked, the corresponding page will be loaded in the content frame.

Content frame

This page will determine whether the clicked menu item is linked to a single page or a record list, will extract the page content from the database and generate the HTML output.

Site backend

A site administrator should be able to add, delete or modify the site contents by using this administration section. It should also be able to add or remove users that can use the administration section.

Setting up the applications

Before we begin the website development process, we have to install the applications needed to create, deploy and run the KTMLtutorial website. The applications are: an Apache web server, a MySQL database server, PHP 4.1+, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, NeXTensio MX and PHAkt MX.

Installing Apache / PHP / MySQL

The Apache web server can be downloaded from the Apache Foundation's official web site: http://httpd.apache.org. The package contains detailed documentation that you will find useful during the installation process.

The MySQL database server can be found at the http://www.mysql.com. The latest recommended version is 3.23 and the package contains detailed explanations to guide you to a successful installation.

The most important PHP resources can be found at http://www.php.net. You will have to download the package and follow the instructions included in it.

Installing Macromedia MX

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX can be downloaded from the Macromedia website as a trial version or can be bought online or through Macromedia distributors in your country. The package contains detailed installation notes.

Installing PHAkt MX

Because PHAkt is developed as an Dreamweaver extension, it must be installed using the Macromedia Extension Manager. To fully use PHAkt for PHP based web application development, you will have to set the server model for your site to PHP_ADODB ( you will find detailed explanations later in this tutorial). You will also have to make sure that the document type of the newly created pages is “PHP4” and not “PHP” (which is the default for PHP_MySQL)

Installing NeXTensio

To install NeXTensio MX you have to be a registered client (a.k.a paying customer - for more details check http://www.interakt.ro/products/buy.php?prodId=2) and you will also need the Macromedia Extension Manager 1.5, included with the Dreamweaver package. No other configuration settings are required.