Perl and Websites

[myoung151279]

Greetings,

I have to create an interface for a website, to allow content management. The content itself is generated using perl scripts, parsing directories. Being a novice to perl, am a little confused. Does anyone know of any information sources that look at this topic specifically, as I am having great trouble finding the information that I need. Any other hints along the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Matt

[PodMaster]

Boy have I got the article for you :) How to Avoid Writing Code

Hopefully that'll shine some light about one good way to go about building a content managment system.

Of course tons of content managment systems have already been built ... and that topic has probably been disucced to death, so if you want more reading material, try super search =>(Content management system recommendations?, Recommended Content Management System?).

[barrd]

..."create an interface for a website, to allow content management"... "Being a novice to perl"...

Eek! :-)

I've built several interfaces along the lines you have described and here is the best advice I can give you on the subject. The difficult part is error trapping, building a CMS is pretty easy* if you don't care about input from the lusers that use the system.

Get to know perl well before attempting this, also learn the Db system you will be using inside-out (you will be using a relational Db, not flatfiles?).

*Getting back to the point, you will be amazed, nay, dismayed by the utter rubbish (and potentially dangerous) content that people will put in using a web based CMS. I can personally guarantee that. So, learn all you can about what is suitable and safe to allow, parse that first, then, and only then allow writing to the Db.

[bradcathey]

The complexities of writing a CMS make it a daunting task, even for the experienced programmers. But, as pointed out in the above replies, there is more to CMS than Perl, or coding of any kind.

First, there is the architecture. How will the system work, what resources can be used, who will design the database?

Secondly, there is interface design. I have clients who have paid big bucks for exotic CMS's, but who shun them because of their complexity and difficulty in actual use.

Thirdly, there are security issues--even well-meaning users can unwittingly input crazy stuff.

Lastly (well, not really), there's the coding and testing itself.

IMHO, check out off-the-shelf systems, or open source ones like Typo3. Are you sure you even need a database-driven CMS? Look at editors like Macromedias Contribute.

Take it from one who is there, learning Perl smartly enough to write a workable and safe CMS will be a long process. "Order out" is my advice.