Dear Alex,

I love your DBMan.

However, I am having a hard time customizing the look and feel of it.

Basically I need all the output to look professional such as this>>> http://websitesolution.net/Programmers/test.htm

I need help getting it to look like this as soon as possible.

I am implementing a DB of programmers, where programmers can add themselves to the DB, and visitors can view/search for programmers by category, i.e. html,sql,java etc. etc.

Anyone who can help will get a year worth of advertising on our website via a small banner.
I am also implementing a CGI website strictly dedicated to CGI scripts such as scriptsearch.com, and will be using Links.

Another thing.
I need to know HOW I can have only 3 buttons on all the interface where people/visitors only see the View, Search, and Add and mabe Modify (their own only).
How can this be done with DB.

I would like to point out that DBMan is very quick and very useful BUT, it needs to be alot more flexible as far as Customization.

Any help in these regards would be deeply apreciated!

------------------
Website Solution
http://www.websitesolution.net

The first thing you need to do is to set up your own fields in the .cfg file. Set
$db_auto_generate = 1;
and test the database to make sure your fields are set up correctly.

The next thing is to set permissions. That will take care of the links at the bottom of your page.

Again, test the database to make sure it works the way you want it to.

Next, create your own html_record and html_record_form subroutines in the html.pl file. Follow the patterns for the fields that are already in the subroutines as you make your own.

Don't get fancy yet. Just make fields to enter the data and a way to print it out.

Set
$db_auto_generate = 0;
in the .cfg file and test out your own subroutines. Make sure your forms work the way you want them to and that they display the information you want.

The next step is to decide what modifications you would like to add, if any. (It's easier to add mods at this point than later.) You can see a list of available mods at
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/scripts/resources/DBMan/Modifications/

If you want to use any of the mods, add them one at a time, testing each one as you go along.

Since you want to have rather extensive page formatting, I might suggest you try the "user-friendly html.pl" mod. It moves all the page formatting into a couple of separate subroutines which make things easier to change. You can pick it up at

http://www.drizzle.com/~hall/dbmod/html_pl.txt

In order to use the mod, you'll just have to copy the html_record and html_record_form subroutines that you already made into the new file.

Be sure to test it before you go on, though, just to be certain everything works okay.

Once your database works exactly as you want it to, you can start to get fancy. First, make any changes to the html_record and html_record_form subroutines to make them look the way you want to. Again, test the database to make sure.

Finally, add your top of page and bottom of page formatting into the html_page_top and html_page_bottom subroutines. (These are in the "user-friendly html.pl" mod.) You can pretty much copy the web page you've already made, and paste them into the subroutines. You will probably need to expand all the URLs to full URLs instead of relative ones, though.

Along the way, if you have questions, post them here. We'll do what we can to help.

------------------
JPD

Hey, thanks. Unfortunately I have no idea how to do this, and I have tried what you have sugested but when I did, I got all kinds of errors...

I am hoping Alex would release a few other versions that default to different looks and layouts, because screwing with the code for people like me who are not Perl programmers can be a real head ache and lots of wasted time.

I am not sure I am willing to waste so much time any more...

I rather pay a little more for a fancier script...

I think pros like you and Alex and others on here can handle that part...

Thanks again.

------------------
Website Solution
http://www.websitesolution.net

Quote:
---------------------------------------------
I am hoping Alex would release a few other versions that default to different looks and layouts, because screwing with the code for people like me who are not Perl programmers can be a real head ache and lots of wasted time.
---------------------------------------------

What do you expect with a freeware script??

I am sure if you ask some of the programmers in these forums to assist in customizing your
database, they will help you.

------------------
Eliot Lee
Founder and Editor
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
http://www.anthrotech.com/
info@anthrotech.com
==========================
Coconino Community College
http://www.coco.cc.az.us/
Web Technology
Coordinator
elee@coco.cc.az.us

I think Alex and JPDeni are great.

Alex has taken this script from inception to present state, obviously through a number of iterations and improvements for the benefit of the Internet community. JPDeni currently supports DBman in a most commendable way, and I'm not sure I will ever find another forum as useful and rewarding as this one.

All in all, as far as I am concerned, DBMan is an excellent script for any one who wants a great, working script that does not need customisation. It's also in my estimation, the most flexible and customisable freeware script out there, because it's so well written.

A lot of people in here are 'tinkerers', including myself, and here partly because of the learning experience the forum provides. If you are not interested in customising the script, I don't think that is unreasonable. Many people don't have, like you say, the time or the desire to fool around with something like DBman.

I think what you want is something with a more configurable look, but if you are HTML knowledgeable, JPDeni's mod is the the thing for you. If not, then you could pay someone to customize it to the look you want, but please don't dismiss the script as inflexible " as far as Customization." Almost everyone in here will agree that the ability to customize the scripts is one of DBMans strongest assets.