Need a database program

[jeb]

I have spent days now trying to find a database program to use for a web site and am no closer to finding the right one than I was when I started. (Sure know a lot more about some of them, however!

The site will be for advertising real estate - no selling. A customer needs to be able to fill out a form with all personal/property data and then someone looking for a property be able to check off boxes of what they are looking for - State, city, area, 2 bedroom, pool, etc, etc - and have one or more properties that fit these criteria returned for them to look at. And our back office needs as well. Overall, a simple task for a DB.

But there must also be pictures of the property and with most of the programs that seems to be a problem.

All of the real estate CRM programs I have looked at offer much more than what we need as we will not be tracking contracts or salesmen and are not flexible enough to let us "re-design" things.

I thought I had found one - Zoho - but have found out that of the 17 different modules they offer, most will not work together - each has it's own data base, which seems totally crazy to me. And the pricing is totally out of whack as well - in their "creator" program, one gets 6000 "records" for $15.00/mo but in their "records" program, one get 250,000 "rows" for the same price.

Other than playing around with Access many - too many - years ago, I know little about databases so ease of use is an absolute requirement.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - jb


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - jb

[Clevo]

SQL is the database you need but I don't think Xara webdesigner is the software you want for the front end. I used to run a b-evolution blog software (a competitior to Wordpress). What I liked about b-evolution is that the front end is highly customisable and you can have 100's of accounts that could add content (with varying levels of security access). It has some con's too.

The back end was all mySQL based

[jeb]

Tks, Clevo - I will not be using Xara for this web site - I am building it with SiteBiuldit.

Take care - jb

[bjornkn]

I'm not familiar with SiteBuildIt, but according to their web pages they provide everything, and even more... Long time since I have seen pages so full of self-praise and big words
MySQL is very commonly used, and usually offered for free with web hotels (at least all I have experience with offers MySQL, php, RubyOnRails etc).
A CMS like Joomla is free, uses php and MySQL, and there are thousands of free (and commercial) plugins availbale, also for real estate etc.

[jeb]

Tks, bjornkn - SBI does have virtually anything and everything one could ever want to design and build a web business, which is what it is for, not for just building a web site - except for DB's. I assume that is by design.

So the DB is going to have to be elsewhere and it seems virtually everyone in the DB business is going to the clouds, which will fit what I need.

But finding a program has proved much more difficult than I ever thought it would be.

I just went to the Joomla site and will spend some time there - tks for the advice. One quick question, is Joomla cloud based or is it just software that one uses on their own server?

Take care - jb

[bjornkn]

Joomla runs on your web hotel/host or own server. Not sure if that qualifies as "the cloud"?
It is a bunch of php files, and uses MySQL (or other DBs) running at the same site.
Images are usually not stored in the DB/tables. You can use a lot of different free templates, buy, or make your own (need some knowledge of html/css/php/xml/SQL?). And with its extendable architecture it can be made to do whaetever you want.
There are many different CMSs around, and Jomla is one of the most popular.
Drupal is another one.

[jeb]

Cloud computing started a few years back and basically everything is "out there" on the internet or "in the clouds" - therefore, the term, "cloud(s)"

It has taken the server concept one more step and instead of having work stations connected to a server in-house the server is connected through the internet. Everything - all software programs and data are accessed through the internet. In a few years you will not even have a need for a computer at all - no hard drive or other storage device - not even a DVD drive, MP-3 player or any other hard or software on your desktop. Nor will you have to own any software. You will have a keyboard, mouse and monitor and a connection to the internet. Then pay a monthly fee for the programs you want and everything is on the internet - in the clouds. Just turn your monitor on and go.

Companies like MS, Google and Amazon, etc are setting up to totally be cloud based in a short period of time. Most of the DB companies are charging to the clouds with program and the ones that started first like force.com are now major players Newcomers like Zoho are making big inroads into the industry.

Not sure Joomla will work for us as I can't put the database on SBI and not understanding how Joomla can give you an immediate web site if they are not setting up the host. I assume that they have some sort of deal with a hosting company and that the database could be placed there and accessed from any other web site as needed? That would work for us.

The degree of knowledge of coding would need to be very small for me to handle it.

Again, tks for the help and advice - I do appreciate it. - jb

[bjornkn]

Well, they tried that cloud thing earlier too - for a while.. I don't think/hope it will replace everything local.

Regarding Joomla they don't have any hosting services afaik. Even in this little country, Norway, there are hundreds of companies offering hosting services, web hotels, domains etc. From very cheap/small to your own dedicated servers. They usually offer your own database on their MySQL server, as well as other software. And it is all maintained and backed up by the hosting company.
The DB has its own subdomain and username/password, so I can't see why you shuoldn't be able to access your tables from any other site, in case you don't want to use Joomla or similar?
The coding skills only applies if you want to make your own templates BTW.
BTW, for testing I have Apache web server running on my local machine, complete with php, MySQL etc. Works just fine, and is completely free

[Magnatude]

Well in my experience, use one of these scripts, just make sure that the host you are uploading the site onto has the database ability.
Most hosting packages have PHP support and mysql/postgres databases included.

First find out what the host already has for database, then match up a script:
Script site with Realtor management scripts some are free and others you have to pay for it.
(BTW, most of those scripts listed are perl scripts, there is a php script category on the side, your best bet is php, or do a search on google for "Realtor php script" )


Some scripts you can strip away at it and create your own scripted webpages, but that's not for the faint-of-heart.

The other alternative way is look for a CMS (like Joomla or many others out there) that may already have Realtor "plugins" that are created by the communities supporting the CMS.

But first! Find out the supported databases already on your clients webhosting!!! Then find a script or CMS.


I've seen some hosting packages that do not include any databases, they are usually the overpriced services $50/mnth. lol.

[stlewis]

Agreed re hosting - PHP/MySQL is essential.

This kind of requirement is often best developed properly - using off-the-shelf code is often harder than starting with a clean sheet!

Dreamweaver, whilst not drag-and-drop, does have wizards which make PHP development easier. The property search is fairly easy - as long as the property table is sensible. It can return results to a list, with a link to a third page which shows the property details.

Adding new properties can be done in several ways. One would be a form which writes the property details to the table but then in an admin area, you check, edit and publish - setting a flag so the search finds it. The big issues here are stopping spamming and allowing the customer to edit a record; in this case you need logon logic.

I guess a PHP programmer could do this in a couple of days - which may be a reasonable cost.