Organization of a Site

ender · 04-08-2004, 08:15 PM

Hello,

Although I have been programming for a while (since middle school). I haven't gotten into web programming until recently. However, I haven't gotten into PHP until a few weeks ago. My previous ploys have been with perl. While good, I feel that if I want to be a better pick within the job field should I ever need to get a new job, I should learn how to use this.

So, now that I have wasted precious words on nothing important, here is my real question. How does one go about arranging their numerous script files for a semi-large site? There are a lot of things to think about with this, and I just wondered how other people organized themselves, so I could take hints. Maybe I should just use the same deal as with perl scripts, but the fact that one can include a header and footer makes it a little more complicated. I have authentication/session stuff that needs to go somewhere, and I feel as though I am bungling it up.

Thanks, look forward to your feedback,

Ted Morse

xinu · 04-09-2004, 11:33 PM

I posted something similar on LiveJournal's PHP community. There were quite a few replies. Check it out:

http://www.livejournal.com/community/php/132382.html

ender · 04-10-2004, 07:10 AM

Thanks for the input, however, while informative, I don't think that post was quite what I was going for. My question relates to the general layout (files w/ functions in folders) than the development process, even though that is easily read from my post.

Thanks for the interesting link though.

Ted Morse

bdl · 04-10-2004, 08:13 AM

Depends, I suppose on your personal preferences. To give you an idea of how I arrange things, here's the general layout of a good sized project I've done...and by good sized I mean about 20 scripts.

A directory in the 'root' (the top level 'home' directory) that is in the 'include_path' directive and contain any scripts I wish to include, plus function declarations, and of course the 'classes' directory contains subdirectories with groups of related classes.

Code:

/php_inc
/php_inc/classes
/php_inc/classes/ClassX

The actual directory that's 'live' and available to the public, I've arranged like so:

Code:

projectname/
projectname/images
projectname/adm

So you can see I take a rather simplistic approach, but I try to do things by the KISS principal...keep it simple stupid! The more involved you get with creating separate directories for every little thing, the quicker you lose track, IMHO. Maybe others feel more organized if they create a new directory for each little component of the project...

HTH

xinu · 04-10-2004, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ender
My question relates to the general layout (files w/ functions in folders) than the development process, even though that is easily read from my post.

I was with you right up until the "if you'd read my question with both eyes, you'd have understood my request, jackass" portion. You'll fit into the developer community just fine - you've already got the RTFM mantra down.

sde · 04-10-2004, 01:50 PM

wowzers .. heh

well i sorta do what bdl does ..

in my site directory, .. i have an 'include','images','classes' ( if i'm making the site OOP )..

it doesn't seem like one would really need more than that if you are using server-side scripting.

most large sites run off databases in which case the same scripts serves for hundres, or even thousands of pages.

you could make it appear like the end user is looking at a different directory for some content . sorta like how the tutorials section here on codenewbie is:

http://codenewbie.com/tutorials.php

but i use mod-rewrite to make it appear like tutorials is it's own subdirectory and each tutorial is its own html page.

http://codenewbie.com/tutorials/categories/

it make it appear more organized, but i do not really need that subdirectory for the content.

ender · 04-10-2004, 05:01 PM

xinu,

I did not mean to offend you at all, and I am sorry if I came off harsh or in a 'RTFM' sort of way. I seriously didn't mean to. However, I was trying to steer the thread away from a topic not intended.

Again, I am very sorry if I came off as a jackass, and will try to post more 'polite' responses in the future. Your input is very important and helpful.

Sde, Thanks a lot. I am currently builgin a rather small site for my CS Department Lab Admins, and since this is my first site using PHP, I figured I'd use the paradigm for script storage, function defining, etc. I think I might have solved my problems after actually thinking about them for a minute. But it is nice to know what other people do anyway, in case I come across other instances where something else might be appropriate.

Ted Morse

xinu · 04-10-2004, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ender
I did not mean to offend you at all, and I am sorry if I came off harsh or in a 'RTFM' sort of way.

(after re-reading the original reply)

Your reply looks fine after I've had 2 meals and have been awake 7 hours. You merely tried to shift focus back to site layout and mentioned that it's understandable that your original post might have been vague.

Sorry about that -- uggh.