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Question

Advice on web app for a local school

Oct 12, 2012 12:41PM PDT

Hi there!

I'm an amateur programmer in Brazil, and I have an idea for a small project to help out a local school here.

I want to create a web application, hosted on the school's website, where teachers can log in and upload texts in PDF format, and students can log in and download these texts onto their computer.

Do you have any advice on how to design the architecture of such a program? I have basic knowledge of HTML/CSS, SQL, Excel, and general programming concepts, but I am very inexperienced. I am very willing to learn and adapt new languages, though.

Thanks so much for the help and advice in advance! I really appreciate it.
John

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Think about it. Why would a web app be needed for this?
Oct 12, 2012 3:22PM PDT

FTP servers for years were used for such. It appears that folk are forgetting the simple old things.
Bob

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Great idea on FTP; What else do you think is good?
Oct 12, 2012 4:04PM PDT

Hey Bob,


That's really good thinking about using FTP to transfer PDF files. This is my first attempt at something like this, so it's really helpful to hear suggestions like this.

I'm trying to integrate this as a tool on their school website for kids to use, like a small electronic reserves library. Using FTP, how could I potentially develop and implement such a thing on their site? What else do you think I would need to use (HTML, PHP, etc.)?

Thanks so much again, Bob! I really appreciate your help.
John

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FTP is a no code required system.
Oct 13, 2012 2:02AM PDT

For uploading to FTP it's a little more work as you craft the URL but I won't document that here. FTP downloads are a bit easier so all that could entail is a link on a page.

While it takes away all the work, I can only guess why anyone would want a web page for files when the old solutions would just do the job.
Bob

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What you're looking
Oct 13, 2012 7:46AM PDT

for is pretty straight forward and web applications like this already exist. For example, take a look at something like http://owncloud.org/features/, which is open-source, meaning you have access to all of the code and modify/learn from it.

Other than that, you probably don't want to start from scratch with something like this. You can look at lightweight frameworks such as Silverstripe or you can use a content management system like WordPress or Drupal.

Languages that you'll probably need to know are: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL or PostgreSQL, and jQuery.

~Sovereign

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Answer
A barebones web app using PHP?
Nov 15, 2012 12:52PM PST

John,
FTP is indeed the best solution. However, somehow I get this feeling that you are thinking about this project as something for you to use as a learning experience into web programming. Given the scope of the project, it's totally doable.
Install a WAMP/LAMP/XAMP server based on your OS and tinker around until you are ready for deployment.
File handling does come with its risks, but if you allocate teachers as the only uploaders and the students as the downloaders, among other security measures, you can do it.
In addition to what you already know, PHP and javascript + jQuery will prove to be very useful.
I learned php awhile ago trying to recreate Facebook, for the lack of better terms. So reinventing the wheel sometimes might be good for learning process if not for anything else.
Good luck.
Abhi.