[thelist] Database for News Stories and Press Releases

[Frank]

At 09:12 PM 2003-07-17 -0500, you wrote:
>I have never attempted this before and I am not really sure where to begin
>(I know that I can do it if I just have the right tutorial available,
>provided such a thing exists).


I would start by considering what the final product will look like. So you 
have an article. It consists of what? Minimally, you would have (these are 
only very generalised ideas). I'm also assuming some comfort with 
relational databases.

Article
     Title
     Body
     Date
     Short Description?
     General topic, or category? [1]
     Author? [3]
     Custom footers?
     Meta description?
     Meta keywords?

[2] Topics? (related table)
     Name
     Description

[3] Author (related table)
     Name (first and last separately?)
     Credentials?
     Contact information? [4]

[4] Contact information separately? (related table)
     Phone
     Email
     Ect...

Essentially, the point is to look at what you are going to put up as a 
final product that the reader will view.

I would recommend looking at your favourite website, or the one you feel 
has the best ideas as to how ideally, you would like your site to be like. 
Take a hard look at an article, and break it down to it's fundamental 
pieces. Use a pen and paper to draw out logically how the information is 
organised. These will suggest your tables and fields.

Also, depending on your needs, you'll need to consider permissions (who 
gets to read or post what) and if it's to be more complex your work flow 
(who gets to read, accept or deny, send back articles).

Frankly, my first step would be to look for a free one on the net, examine 
how the author put it together, and either use it as a springboard for 
inspiration, or modify it for your own use, if the licence permits you.





--
Frank Marion     lists at frankmarion.com      Keep the signal high.