Advice on how to approach this

Random_123

Hi there ,

I intended to work for a charity and I will be making and maintaining their website. The website will be simple in functions according to me

I will be using HTML 5 and CSS. But I don't want the site to be static.

This part I need help on. What do I need to learn in order to achieve the below. C# or Java Script or PHP Laravel.

I want users to be able to register and once they have logged in they can access their profile page

On their profile page I want that page to be able to grab data from SQL databases and present them on their profile page.

Data like how much they have donated etc and for this data to be presented in infographics

Thank you very much

RasaTamil

Random_123 I wound recommend Firebase and I can't insist how fast you can build app with it. Firebase allows you to write query from your client-side basically you do not need to own or run your own server.

Here is the simple CRUD App with Authentication. I used Vue.js in this example, but you can do with plain JavaScript if you prefer it.
https://softauthor.com/firestore-crud-app-vuejs-authentication/

If you have any question.. let me know.

NogDog

You'll definitely need some server-side code, but the options are numerous. Certainly it could be done with PHP (on Laravel if desired), C#/.NET, NodeJS, Ruby on Rails...whatever you prefer.

Random_123

NogDog thank you for replying. So is c# used for functions side and .net for backend database's?

I've looked into building a custom WordPress theme using bootstrap and feel I could do this

Have you got knowledge on WordPress. Could I simply create a page that fetches the logged in user's donation date from a database and puts it into infographics and could I do this with c#? Is c# compatible with WordPress

I feel because I'm already learning c# but it's a very beginner level. Could I use c# to do the above and do the above in WordPress

NogDog

WordPress is written in PHP, so if you want to use it as the basis of your site, then most likely you'd want to use PHP to modify it to your specific needs -- or even see if there is is a WordPress plug-in you could use?

One advantage of a PHP-based approach is that virtually any web-hosting provider you use will support it out of the box. That's not to say you can't get reasonable hosting for any of the others -- just that you need to be a bit more careful about choosing the right provider and package to get what you need in those cases.

Depending on what you really need to accomplish, it may be overkill. If it's just adding a div to the page that includes some member data and a registration/login capability, WordPress or any other CMS may be overkill. Maybe a few dozen lines of PHP along with the HTML/CSS markup is all you need, along with a registration/login page with perhaps a bit more PHP? 🤷‍♂️

Also, WordPress is not the only CMS choice. Here's one random article I found comparing it with Drupal for a non-profit/charity site: https://www.johnhaydon.com/nonprofit-website-drupal-wordpress/

Random_123

NogDog I really really appreciate your input. Thank you soo soo much

Random_123

NogDog could I do the above as you mentioned using c# coding instead of php and html/css markup?

If I can't then would an easier way be to learn object ordinated programming with php? I don't know the difference between this and plain php but I'm assuming it will be easier

I was thinking the same that a content management system wouldn't be the best solution

I've seen a course on object oriented programming with php and it involves databases and I feel I should grasp it fast

NogDog

I personally have no experience with C#, but it certainly could do the job. All I know is it's normally used in conjunction with the .NET framework when using it for web sites -- and that's the extent of my knowledge. 🙂 We have a web-based project where I work that's in C#/.NET, but I don't work on it (obviously).

Random_123

NogDog thank you for taking out time and replying. Would it be a good idea to use html and CSS for markup and then javascript instead of c# and php? Are these three programming languages? Can javascript make registration, log in and a simple profile page that fetches data from a database. Are you aware of firebase from Google? Could that be useful for my project

NogDog

Random_123

For registration/login and personalized content, you'll need something on the server side -- which is where all the language options are, for better or worse. On the client (browser) side you have your HTML/CSS/JavaScript, but they cannot talk directly to your user database -- they have to call your server-side endpoints to do so.

Random_123

Oh I see. So html/CSS/Java Script are for the front end of the website only. Then if you were to have personalised content and login/register you need additional programming for example php or C# to communicate with the back end of the website which includes databases like my sql on the server and the programming from php and c# is used for communicating to the server which includes fetching information stored on databases on a server.

NogDog

Random_123 for example php or C# to communicate with the back end of the website

In fact, that "php or C#" is the backend: it will reside on the web server, and HTTP requests from the browser to the web server will cause it to execute on the web server (as opposed to JavaScript in the downloaded web page actually running in the browser on the user's machine).