Project: Classmate Website (beta)

I am currently working on a project for my Mom’s classmate website.  I am building the project using PHPR (phprunner) and it is written in PHP with a MySQL database on the backend.  Her current website features an out of date content management solution that is hard for her to get around in, and it requires her to have to keep all of her classmates information up to date, which is a lot of work considering she has over 50 classmates.

With the new solution I am putting together there will be an added layer of security and privacy in that all of her classmates email addresses and contact information will be only available to other registered classmates on the website.  This will hopefully do two things, one, as I mentioned earlier, hopefully add some privacy for sensitive member information like phone numbers, email addresses, etc., and secondly, hopefully by requiring classmates to register prior to accessing other classmates information it will encourage them all to register and share some information about themselves.

I have built a complete self-registration page that allows each registrant the opportunity to enter in their contact information (cell phone, home phone, mailing address, etc.) as well as adding a short message to other classmates along with a photo of themselves.  I have also coded in an advanced feature that will make a google map for directions to each others address in the event they would like to plan a trip to visit out of town classmates. 

Once a member registers online they choose a username and password which is stored in the database and can be reset if needed as well as having an email reminder sent to them in the event they forget their information.  I also have implemented user access permissions in the database which will only allow a registered member to edit or change their own information with the exception of my Mom, i made her login information as a “superadmin” meaning that she can edit anyone’s information for them should the need arise.

One other thing that I have added in this software package is an Upcoming Events management console which my Mom can use to post upcoming events or get togethers that her classmates plan.  These events can be edited and deleted by my Mom only since she is the superadmin.  I am planning on adding an event submission area where registered members can post suggested events to be approved by the superadmin upon approval.  Once an event is added to the database I am also going to probably add a feature that will send an email notification to all of her classmates alerting them that an event or get together has been added to the site.  On the event detail page I have also coded in the Google Maps api that will automatically plot out a map to the location the party is being held at.

I haven’t gotten the site ready for launch yet but should have it ready sometime this week once I get all of the bugs worked out.  I have planned this project out for about the last week or two and finally sat down today and loaded all of the code onto the server using PHPR (phprunner) and started testing everything out.  It is projects like this that would have normally taken me a few days at least to code that I am now able to launch in just a few minutes using PHPR (phprunner) WYSWYG php code generator.  If you are looking for a cool tool to manage and create a custom PHP/MySQL web application I would suggest downloading PHPRunner from Xlinesoft.  I try to interact frequently on their forums and community message boards.