Site Design

[Ranana_Prussy]

Hi there,

I think the background of your site is good the color and design is also nice. If you give red color on top it will look more better.

[ZInventor]

One of my friends at school and i built the RiverdaleRobotics site from the ground up using PHP and MySQL. all pages (in multiple languages) are editable through a simple web interface :Click here for the content entry demo

it took us quite a while to get the system running at 100%, but, now it's great, and super easy to use.

we also have an inventory system, and as mentioned before, Multiple languages.

all members on the team have accounts, which are used to access an email system, and the member pages (so team members can edit their own bios)

the ENTIRE site was written by us (ok, fine, not the menus, they came from DynamicDrive.com, but are heavily modified) and we're trying to get rid of the google stuff which kills validation.

everything was written in text editors with auto-highlight (more usefull than you think) and lots of trial and error.

the homepage ishttp://riverdalerobotics.com/

the demo page is http://riverdalerobotics.com/?demo&page=demo

if people want copies of bits of the source, wait a month or so, as we're about to do a massive overhaul of the back end (to make the source more compact and sensible...) after that, PM me, and we can talk...

overall, i like being in full control of the site, sometimes that can make all the difference, but then again, with power comes responsibility, and maintenance! so you have to be prepared to work. a lot.

-Z

[Foster]

It's interesting to see that your page information is in a simpler markup (like a wiki markup) to make it easier format the page. Did you write the parser / formatter from scratch?

Do you store the page in the database as the simplified markup?

[ZInventor]

Originally Posted by Foster

It's interesting to see that your page information is in a simpler markup (like a wiki markup) to make it easier format the page. Did you write the parser / formatter from scratch?

Do you store the page in the database as the simplified markup?

The parser was written by us, in php, based off the wiki system (but we didn't like how that worked to we threw it away and built our own from the ground up)

everything is stored in a MySQL database in the non-parsed format.

here's some of the current (not cleaned up) code running the parser.

PHP Code:

function panda_parse($text) {
    global $panda;
    // If $text is in string form, split it into an array of lines.
    if (is_string($text)) {
        $text = str_replace("\r\n", "\n", $text);
        $text = str_replace("\r", "\n", $text);
        $text = explode("\n", $text);
    }
    // Prepare an array to hold the parsed lines.
    $parsed = array();
    // Set up a variable to keep track of what tag we're in.
    $this_tag = '';
    // Parse each line.
    foreach ($text as $i => $line) {
        // We'll need access to the lines on either side of the one we're parsing.
        $prev_line = $text[$i - 1];
        $next_line = $text[$i + 1];
        // Prepare a few regular expressions to make things a bit neater later on.
        $regex_table = '/^((!!|\|\|).+?)+(!!|\|\|)$/';
        $regex_img = '/\{\{(.+?)\|(.+?)(\|(\d+)(\|(\d+))?)?(\|left|\|right|\|inline)?\}\}/';
        $regex_just_img = '/^\{\{(.+?)\|(.+?)(\|(\d+)(\|(\d+))?)?(\|left|\|right|\|inline)?\}\}$/';
        // Dashes.
        while (preg_match('/ ?-- ?/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '—', $line);
        }
        while (preg_match('/ - /', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], ' – ', $line);
        }
        while (preg_match('/\d(-)\d/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[1], '–', $line);
        }
        // Tables.
        if (preg_match($regex_table, $line)) {
            if (preg_match($regex_table, $prev_line)) $beginning = "\t<tr>\n";
            else $beginning = "<table class=\"parsed\">\n\t<tr>\n";
            $end = "\t</tr>";
            if (!preg_match($regex_table, $next_line)) $end .= "\n</table>";
            while (preg_match('/((!!|\|\|)((\d+)[>^]){0,2}(.+?))(!!|\|\|)/', $line, $m)) {
                //print '<pre>There is a table cell which is ' . $m[0] . '</pre>';
                $cell_tag = 'td'; $align = $colspan = $rowspan = '';
                if ($m[2] == '!!') $cell_tag = 'th';
                if (preg_match('/^ +(.+?) +$/', $m[5], $m2)) {
                    $m[5] = $m2[1];
                    $align = ' class="center"';
                }
                else if (preg_match('/^ +(.+?)$/', $m[5], $m2)) {
                    $m[5] = $m2[1];
                    $align = ' class="right"';
                }
                else if (preg_match('/^(.+?) *$/', $m[5], $m2)) $m[5] = $m2[1];
                if (preg_match('/(\d+)>/', $m[3], $m2)) $colspan = ' colspan="' . $m2[1] . '"';
                if (preg_match('/(\d+)\^/', $m[3], $m2)) $rowspan = ' rowspan="' . $m2[1] . '"';
                $line = str_replace($m[1], "\t\t<" . $cell_tag . $align . $colspan . $rowspan . '>' . $m[5] . '</' . $cell_tag . ">\n", $line);
            }
            $line = $beginning . $line . $end;
            $line = str_replace("\n||\t</tr>", "\n\t</tr>", $line);
            $line = str_replace("\n!!\t</tr>", "\n\t</tr>", $line);
        }
        // Bulleted and numbered lists.
        else if (preg_match('/^([*#]+)/m', $line, $m)) {
            $num_of_levels = strlen($m[1]);
            $beginning = $end = '';
            if (preg_match('/^[*#]{0,' . $num_of_levels . '}([^*#]|$)/m', $next_line)) $end = '</li>';
            for ($i = $num_of_levels - 1; $i > 0; $i--) {
                if ($prev_line{$i} == $m[1]{$i});
                else if ($m[1]{$i} == '*') $beginning .= "<ul>\n";
                else if ($m[1]{$i} == '#') $beginning .= "<ol>\n";
                if ($next_line{$i} == $m[1]{$i});
                else if ($m[1]{$i} == '*') $end .= "\n</ul></li>";
                else if ($m[1]{$i} == '#') $end .= "\n</ol></li>";
            }
            if ($prev_line{0} == $m[1]{0});
            else if ($m[1]{0} == '*') $beginning .= "<ul>\n";
            else if ($m[1]{0} == '#') $beginning .= "<ol>\n";
            if ($next_line{0} == $m[1]{0});
            else if ($m[1]{0} == '*') $end .= "\n</ul>";
            else if ($m[1]{0} == '#') $end .= "\n</ol>";
            $line = $beginning . '<li>' . substr($line, $num_of_levels) . $end;
        }
        // Headings.
        else if (preg_match('/^!!!/m', $line)) $line = '<h4>' . substr($line, 3) . '</h4>';
        else if (preg_match('/^!!/m', $line)) $line = '<h3>' . substr($line, 2) . '</h3>';
        else if (preg_match('/^!/m', $line)) $line = '<h2>' . substr($line, 1) . '</h2>';
        // Blockquotes.
        else if (preg_match('/^:/m', $line)) {
            $line = '<blockquote>' . substr($line, 1);
            $this_tag = 'blockquote';
        }
        // Paragraphs.
        else if ($line != '' and $prev_line == '' and !preg_match($regex_just_img, $line) and $line{0} != '=') {
            $line = '<p>' . $line;
            $this_tag = 'p';
        }
        // No-paragraph lines.
        else if ($line{0} == '=') $line = substr($line, 1);
        // Close paragraph or blockquote.
        if ($this_tag == true and $next_line == '') {
            $line .= '</' . $this_tag . '>';
            $this_tag = '';
        }
        // Bold italics.
        while (preg_match("/'''''?(.+?)'''''?/", $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<b><i>' . $m[1] . '</i></b>', $line);
        }
        // Bold.
        while (preg_match("/'''(.+?)'''/", $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<b>' . $m[1] . '</b>', $line);
        }
        // Italics.
        while (preg_match("/''(.+?)''/", $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<i>' . $m[1] . '</i>', $line);
        }
        // External links.
        while (preg_match('/\[\[(http[^|]+?)\|([^\]]+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href="' . $m[1] . '" class="ext" target="_blank">' . $m[2] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        while (preg_match('/\[\[(http[^\]]+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href="' . $m[1] . '" class="ext" target="_blank">' . $m[1] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        // Mailto links.
        while (preg_match('/\[\[([^|]+?@[^|]+?)\|([^\]]+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            print '<br>Mailto!<br>';
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href="mailto:' . $m[1] . '" class="mailto">' . $m[2] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        while (preg_match('/\[\[([^|]+?@[^|]+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href="mailto:' . $m[1] . '" class="mailto">' . $m[1] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        // Internal links.
        while (preg_match('/\[\[([a-z0-9\-_=&]+?)\|(.+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href=".?' . $m[1] . '&amp;page=' . $m[1] . '">' . $m[2] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        while (preg_match('/\[\[([a-z0-9\-_=&]+?)\]\]/', $line, $m)) {
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<a href=".?' . $m[1] . '&amp;page=' . $m[1] . '">' . $m[1] . '</a>', $line);
        }
        // Images.
        while (preg_match($regex_img, $line, $m)) {
            if (!empty($m[4])) $width = ' width="' . $m[4] . '"';
            if (!empty($m[6])) $height = ' height="' . $m[6] . '"';
            if ($m[7] == '|inline') $side = 'inline';
            else if ($m[7] == '|left') $side = 'left';
            else $side = 'right';
            $line = str_replace($m[0], '<img src="' . $panda['imgdir'] . $m[1] . '" alt="' . $m[2] . '" title="' . $m[2] . '"' . $width . $height . ' class="' . $side . '" />', $line);
        }
        // Add this line to the array of parsed lines.
        $parsed[] = $line;
    }
    // Return a single string of HTML.
    return join("\n", $parsed);
} 


as you can see, it's pretty crazy, and takes a ton of debugging (the first 100 or so issues were forgotten semicolons!)

we're working on cleaning up this code, but anyone who wants it can use it, but PLEASE put a comment in the HTML of your code that says that you are using some of our stuff, thanks!

-Z

[Uberbots]

Originally Posted by ZInventor

The parser was written by us, in php, based off the wiki system (but we didn't like how that worked to we threw it away and built our own from the ground up)

everything is stored in a MySQL database in the non-parsed format.

you should store it in parsed and non-parsed. it would reduce your load times by a lot, and disk space is cheap.

[ZInventor]

Originally Posted by Uberbots

you should store it in parsed and non-parsed. it would reduce your load times by a lot, and disk space is cheap.

we have a decent speed server, and fast connection, so the load time isn't an issue.

but more to the point here, the thread (as much as i'd like it to be) isn't about my team's site.

if you think this discussion should continue, PM me and i'll start a thread.

-Z

[Uberbots]

Originally Posted by ZInventor

One of my friends at school and i built the RiverdaleRobotics site from the ground up using PHP and MySQL. all pages (in multiple languages) are editable through a simple web interface :Click here for the content entry demo

it took us quite a while to get the system running at 100%, but, now it's great, and super easy to use.

we also have an inventory system, and as mentioned before, Multiple languages.

all members on the team have accounts, which are used to access an email system, and the member pages (so team members can edit their own bios)

the ENTIRE site was written by us (ok, fine, not the menus, they came from DynamicDrive.com, but are heavily modified) and we're trying to get rid of the google stuff which kills validation.

everything was written in text editors with auto-highlight (more usefull than you think) and lots of trial and error.

the homepage ishttp://riverdalerobotics.com/

the demo page is http://riverdalerobotics.com/?demo&page=demo

if people want copies of bits of the source, wait a month or so, as we're about to do a massive overhaul of the back end (to make the source more compact and sensible...) after that, PM me, and we can talk...

overall, i like being in full control of the site, sometimes that can make all the difference, but then again, with power comes responsibility, and maintenance! so you have to be prepared to work. a lot.

-Z

I know you arent asking for reviews, but that parser is very, very good. Very wikipediesqe. see its so good it make me make up a new word.

Personally i use photoshop to make the graphics, and NetBeans to make the php code. Yes netbeans- it works VERY well. and it has built in source control. and its free (:

as for the engine, a while back i made my own collection of building blocks based on websites i had designed (news, calendars, picture libraries, blogs, AJAX comms, etc), so i basically make a copy of that folder and do some slight modifications to tailor them to the specific site im making. Im able to churn out most websites in 24 hours of work (so far, since i usually end up designing a new component)