Structure of maintainable websites - PHP

This is a discussion on Structure of maintainable websites - PHP ; Hello, I'm currently maintaining a website (I developed myself) for the Intranet of a public school. Among the usual things (news, login system, online grading) the web interface is also used for controlling the server it resides on (which includes ...

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Structure of maintainable websites

  1. Default Structure of maintainable websites

    Hello,

    I'm currently maintaining a website (I developed myself) for the
    Intranet of a public school. Among the usual things (news, login system,
    online grading) the web interface is also used for controlling the
    server it resides on (which includes a few simple tasks such as
    verifying the UPS load, adding users, editing a few conf files) and also
    it is used for (actually, the main purpose of it)
    enabling/restricting/disabling internet access to each of our computer labs.

    The system started quite small (since it had to be built fast), but is
    starting to grow to incorporate new features. Currently, each function
    of the system is built in a different php file. It doesn't use any
    template system, though all shared functions are stored in several files
    in a /lib directory and imported in an as-needed basis. Some of the
    libraries are third party, so some are strictly funcional, others are
    Object-Oriented.

    I have worked with a few CMSs in the past, indeed I even wrote plugins
    for some, so I have *some* idea of application design in PHP. However,
    I'd like a few pointers on how to make a good, solid infrastructure for
    my code (possibly a complete redesign) which allows it to be easily
    maintained by future ****ists. Would using Smarty be the best solution,
    in this case? Personally, I wouldn't like to tie the system with any
    existing CMS.

    So, my question is: are there any good practices that I should be aware
    of or example websites I can study, that will give me the knowledge I
    need? I'm not looking for references on general software design
    approaches, but practical information on how to apply them to PHP websites.

    Thanks,
    Matheus Degiovani.

  2. Default Re: [PHP] Structure of maintainable websites

    > So, my question is: are there any good practices that I should be aware
    > of or example websites I can study, that will give me the knowledge I
    > need? I'm not looking for references on general software design
    > approaches, but practical information on how to apply them to PHP websites.


    You could do worse than looking at this:

    http://www.phpguru.org/static/ApplicationStructure.html

    Lots of people like to over complicate their structure, but this (I
    find) usually suffices. Plus it's easy to navigate and interpret.

    PS. Smarty has nothing to do with structure - it's got everything to do
    with needlessly reducing performance.

    --
    Richard Heyes
    +44 (0)800 0213 172
    http://www.websupportsolutions.co.uk

    Knowledge Base and HelpDesk software
    that can cut the cost of online support

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