Hi all,
Once again I humbly seek the help of those with more clue than I
I have agreed to take on a project for the charity I do some voluntary work for, and I'm already beginning to regret it!
The first thing I need help on is regarding the db structure, and try as I might, I cannot get my head round the best db layout for this job, so any advice is appreciated
Basically, the site (a directory of addresses, cross referenced) is structured like so:
Directory Listing of addresses
So for example:
Listing:
Area 1
Category 1
Listing 1 (address & link to advert)
Listing 2 (address & link to advert)
Listing 3 (address & link to advert)
...etc etc with areas, categories, addresses and adverts.
The problem I have, is how to structure the db in an efficient way so that I can develop a system where other people can login to an admin section and administer the listing, as well as a public facing system that displays the listings in correct order.
The thing is, often a listing (we'll use abc charity for example) needs to be cross-referenced. So a user wishes to add abc charity to:
Area 1 under category type 3
AND
Area 1 under category type 6
AND
Area 3 under category type 3
AND display an advert, which is linked to from the listing.
How do I ensure that when a listing is added once, it can be listed under multiple areas/categories, and when it is deleted, all entries of this listing under all areas/categories are removed in one foul swoop?
I'm not asking how to do all this in PHP - that comes later. I just need to know how to arrange the db for this to work, so that I can efficiently administer and display the DB in PHP without ending up with a mess 6 months down the line.
If it helps, there are 20 fixed areas each with 30 fixed categories (same cats throughout) - these will never change.
Do I need to create tables for area, category & advert? If so, how do I join them so I can cross-SELECT & cross-INSERT/UPDATE them without vast amounts of PHP?
Does any of this make sense?!
TIA
Jonathen
