ronchicago

if you plan to do a site it helps to think about the purpose of the site, who is going to maintain it, how often will it change.

if the site can remain untouched for a year or more, and it is maintained by the creator (designer/programmer) of the site, it makes little difference how the site is built. the site just sits there for awhile and it can be refined or completely redone by a person knowledgeable in web design.

if a site needs to be updated a lot, or there is a lot of content, whether it is products, names/addresses, it makes sense to create a site that helps manage all this information (cms = content management system) for example, and is easy to change – by anyone, not just a skilled professional. in this case you build a site that is built around a database and you can build an interface where even the bookkeeper can add content without destroying the look and feel of the site.

if a site aims to “interact” with people, where many end users can input content,you again need a database and a design that is easily maintained and easy to interact with.
you can build this interactive site from scratch or you can save time and build one that a lot of people already have built an “engine” that is built strictly for interactivity on the internet.

here is a site that was built on a database that can be updated by a non-designer and is now adding a blog link/blog engine to it soon = http://chicagodesignarchive.org

more and more sites are interactive now = youtube.com which i think of as a blog engine site. there is a lot of upside to start a site using a blog-type engine.

hope this helps.

isn’t true that it is necessary to go 777, like for the uploads folder for the initial upload? but once wp makes the initial connection you can (sounds like must!) go back to default settings? is default the best practice settings?

speaking of hacking – where/how does one get in? are we saying that because wp sits in public_html everything is viewable = the need for the correct permissions?

i have been reading that important files should not even be inside the html_public folder, like a mysql_connect.php file.

i have asked so many questions the past 2-3 days i had to go back to my profile to find unresolved items. I am back to tags/clouds, etc. again. thank you for all the comments! a flicker “badge” is very neat.

today i found this site that has many thing i am looking for = three column, stuff on the bottom. does anyone recognize this theme? i did leave a message with the owner of this site asking him if this was tweaked a lot or entirely custom.

http://www.ganyet.com/

ok!

btw – cpanel gives the option of setting just the folder and/or folders within. i looked up smartFTP but could not tell if it works on mac platform. i am using captain FTP – nice mac exclusive client though i did not look to see if it is recursive…

i don’t know why the host gets things done sometimes that i can’t. that’s why one keeps good a relationship with host.

had something a bit healthier than sandwich – i was informed ribs/calamari/risotto leftovers tonight. don’t fret, i burn it off…

i just had the database connection issue sited at the top of this post and one of the options suggested was to change localhost to your domain. my host said it makes mysql work a bit harder and it is considered a security risk to make your mysql accessable to internet. for me the solution was the correct query from my host provider.