have a project coming up, and I'm uncertain what the starting point should be. Here's a rundown of what I need to do:
Create a login portal for registered users
Have the ability to upload pdf files to secure server
Have the ability to email another person a url link to the uploaded pdf files
In addition I need to be able to create two different types of user accounts. Let's call the Account A and Account B. I need account A to be able to upload and delete files via a document upload manager. I need account B to be able to login and via a special PIN that is linked to Account A, be able to view the files that Account A has uploaded and download/print those files.
Im not looking for a complete step by step....I just need to be pushed in a direction and given a brief overview and I'm fine. Just not sure where I should start. Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks in advance!!!
Basically: divide and conquer. Your 2nd paragraph essentially defines three major partitions to your app. That's a good place to start your organization. Within each of those partitions, perhaps think about how it breaks down in terms of database, processing, and user interface. In addition, you'll want to keep an overall picture in mind as far as the database design goes in terms of what the data interactions/dependencies might be between those areas.
You may at this time want to look to see if any framework, CMS, etc. looks like it can handle a lot of this for you.
At that point you should be ready to pick one aspect of one section and start getting into the nuts and bolts: determining what, if any, 3rd-party software to use (e.g. PHPMailer to help with the email aspects?) along with the detailed design and implementation. Just keep breaking things down until you have individual classes (or include files) and then down to individual methods (or functions). If you keep things loosely coupled, you don't have to keep the entire app in your mind at all times.
"Please give us a simple answer, so that we don't have to think, because if we think, we might find answers that don't fit the way we want the world to be."
~ Terry Pratchett in Nation
ND, Thanks for your response. I'm currently looking at CodeIgniter as the foundation for my project.... but I'm not tied down to it. Do you or anyone reading this thread have some recommendations for frameworks, or CMSs based on what I said my needs are? Thanks
Outside of the proprietary framework we use at work, the only other one I have any real experience with is CodeIgniter, and I found it quite useful and pretty easy to learn (in part thanks to its good documentation).
"Please give us a simple answer, so that we don't have to think, because if we think, we might find answers that don't fit the way we want the world to be."
~ Terry Pratchett in Nation
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