Advanced Validation for Registration Form

[MissBrittany]

Hi everyone!

I am new to the forum, and new to web design. I am currently working on getting my first site up and running, so I apologize if my queries seem basic. I truly do appreciate any input you can provide!

I am using PageBreeze to create my webpages, and have began to create the registration page for my site using Coffee Cup Form Generator. I designed the form, love the way it looks, and got it all set up to communicate with my MySql database. Unfortunately, after running some tests, I realized that this Coffee Cup software does not provide advanced verification of any form fields (checking the MySql database to see if the users e-mail address, login, etc. have already been submitted previously).

I would really love to use my Coffee Cup form, but I am clueless about how to write the PHP code to make the form check MySql after submission for these validations. I have searched online, but have only found vague examples (at least vague to me!) and I don't know where to insert the script into the Coffee Cup PHP page. If anyone could advise on this type of coding, that would be great!

I would also love to get any recommendations for other WYSIWYG form generators (because I'm a novice). I've seen many advertised in my searches, but don't want to pay for the service without some suggestions.

Thank you in advance for your time and advice!

[NogDog]

Welcome to PHPBuilder.

I've only been involved with one form generator (I don't remember the name), where I came in toward the end to try and make the form processor do what the client really wanted it to do. After seeing the horrendous things it did in the way of database table creation and manipulation, I never wanted to have anything to do with it again. :eek:

Anyway, if you are doing this for a client and looking for a quick way to get it done, then hopefully you'll find someone here who is familiar with those specific tools and able to point you to some relatively simple solutions.

If, on the other hand, you are doing this as a learning project, my recommendation would be to throw away the WYSIWYG tools (at least for now) and take the time to lean how to code it yourself from the ground up. This way you'll learn so much more about PHP, SQL, database design, etc.; all good knowledge that will be of great use to you in future projects.

[MissBrittany]

NogDog, I really appreciate your fast and detailed reply!

I know you are completely right that I need to take the time and learn to write PHP script on my own. That old saying that if you want something done right, you should do it yourself carries so much validity! I really want to become a PHP writin' pro someday, I just need a jumping off point with some well explained visual examples, so I plan to head to the bookstore and invest in some manuals.

Luckily, I am not under a deadline for creating this website. It is for a company that I work for, but the owners do know that I am a novice at web building and are being patient with me! 😃 I was trying to get the site up and fully functional as soon as possible, but I certainly don't want to sacrifice proper security and validation for the information that is submitted through my pages in an effort to be hasty!

For the time being, I have discovered a site, <a href="http"//www.hotscripts.com">hotscripts.com</a>, which seems to provide some resources inlcuding suggestions for books on all types of scripting, and plenty of examples. I'm going to start parusing the site and hopefully I will find what I'm looking for.

Thanks again NogDog! I'll post any resolutions that I find! Take care!

[NogDog]

Places like Hotscripts.com can certainly be useful resources. My one warning, though, is that anybody can post a script there, and there is no guarantee that any script you find there is secure, uses current best practices, etc. But then, even published books sometimes have less than optimal code in them, so the only real answer is to try to learn from as many sources as you can, I guess, and then filter, validate, and organize all those various learning inputs in your mind just like your PHP applications will do with their user inputs. 🙂