Just made a couple of small edits (I don’t like broken links or bad formatting). At the time, I was probably using Dreamweaver.
June 4th, 2002 – Day 1 of David-DuVal.com.
Hosting with PHP and mySQL: I’ve been trying to learn more about building websites that interact with databases. The current hosting package that I am receiving though hostway.com provides a CGI-BIN, Perl v5.x, C++, gcc, TCL, Python, PHP and mySQL for less than $20 per month. After reading about PHP and mySQL, I’m finding that these
‘open source’ products are becoming quite popular. I believe they will become forces to be reckoned with if they are not already. I really like the idea of such powerful tools being available to the average person for a minimal cost. The Microsoft products, SQL Server and ASP.Net are more expensive, especially the tools needed to make them work. I’m
hopeful that the PHP/mySQL combination works well for me.
MIVA Shopping Cart: Very soon I will be starting to work with the MIVA Shopping Cart. I’m building a site to sell ballroom dance products (The Dance Dresser). My friend, Bob Northrup, who runs vwworks.com, as well as several other sites, recommended this
hosting service (hostway.com) as well as the MIVA shopping cart system. I plan to post information about the how easy it is to work with MIVA. Wish me luck!
Going to New York: On June 8th my wife, Shelley, and I are renting a car and heading North. Right now the only places we have specific plans for visiting are Asheville, NC, Niagra Falls and New York City, but even those places are not written in stone. We both look forwardto having a week off with no particular place to go and the freedom to go wherever we feel drawn to go. Maybe we’ll even make it to New York! But that’s not the point (yes, I know it’s the title of this post).
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): I’ll be playing around with CSS on this site. Usually what I like to do is find a site that I like that is already using CSS and then downlaod their sheet and modify it to my liking. I downloaded Style Master and Coffee Cup Style Sheet Maker free trials. They have helped me a little but I’ve learned more by looking at tutorials on websites and examining style sheets created by others.
Forums: Another thing I’m planning on trying on this site are forums. There must be over 100 different Bulletin Board systems out there. Some are paid and some are free. I want to find a good free one. Right now we are using Snitz Forums on the Showtime Dance Shoes website.