[FIXED] Creating a user-specific calendar

Issue

I want to create a fairly simple webpage where a user logs in and can manipulate a calendar that I create (perhaps with a HTML table?). I've already created a simple login service with a few HTML and php pages and have basic user info stored in a MAMP server.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from here I would need to layout a calendar in HTML and maybe have link table cells to an edit page where the user can create a new event. The real question here is what is the best way to go about storing information like this on my server? Using PHP and MAMP like I did with the form data at registration?

I'm still fairly new to databases and working with servers and such, so just looking for a little guidance so I don't waste time learning a completely incorrect approach to this.

Solution

MySQL and PHP are definitely the way to go in my opinion. I would look into Javascript and AJAX if I were you also. Using AJAX, you could have a user enter information into the calendar directly and store it in the database without having to leave the page. jQuery is a very nice and simple library for working with Javascript and AJAX and I would very highly recommend it. It greatly simplifies working with Javascript.

As for the calendar itself, using a table seems like the best approach to me.

For storing information in MySQL, I'm seeing a table somewhat like this:

UID|EntryID|Date|Time|Event|etc.

You could store this table separately from your users table and join them easily when making requests. For instance, when a user logs in, you can pull the users UID from the users table you have set up, then pull all entries out of the calendar table with matching UID's and manipulate and display this information with PHP and Javascript.

There may be (and most likely are) better ways to set up your database, but this is kind of just a general concept of how you could get it to work. There are certainly people here with much more experience in MySQL and database design than myself.

Overall it sounds like you have a good idea working for you and have a pretty good idea of what it will take to make it happen. I wish you the best of luck on your project!

Answered By - Jeremy