Top beginner projects for php & MySQL

I've tried reading a few books at the library, I just CAN'T follow along. They're all so boring, and only talk about theory, not really applying theory to applications or anything fun. I guess the best way to learn would be to just do simple projects. If you could make a list, what would be on that list of projects?


p.s. I'm not talking about modifying scripts. I'm actually pretty good at Wordpress modification, as it's not too hard. I want to build somethings up myself, just don't know what those things are.

The book I was learning it from (Head First PHP & MySQL) is based around a few little projects; I'd recommend the book -- so far, I've learnt a lot, and if my dog ever gets abducted by aliens, that's a project I already coded.

However, I'd like some simple script ideas as well.

My first PHP/SQL projects were a URL shortener, and an arcade script.

The arcade script is a basic task, but with big room for expansion.

Start with a basic admin panel to submit/edit/delete games, and a 2-page frontend - listing and 'view game' page.
Then if all goes well, add categories, pagination, ratings, user system, etc.

Originally Posted by santa The book I was learning it from (Head First PHP & MySQL) is based around a few little projects; I'd recommend the book -- so far

Yeah it's just most books deal with all theory, and less actual web development with that language. I think I've come to the conclussion that I need more hands on experimenting, less reading.

Originally Posted by Garyrae My first PHP/SQL projects were a URL shortener, and an arcade script. The arcade script is a basic task, but with big room for expansion. Start with a basic admin panel to submit/edit/delete games, and a 2-page frontend - listing and 'view game' page. Then if all goes well, add categories, pagination, ratings, user system, etc.

arcade script, sounds interesting. I'll give it a shot soon.

I made a forum to get acquainted with PHP/MySQL. On similar lines to Gary.

I can not stress this enough, read Head First PHP/MySQL. It is without a doubt the best beginner PHP/MySQL book. It focuses mainly on doing small projects that aid the laerning process, and is very comical and lively which make it really easy to read. It even gives you the capabilities to make a mini-dating site. Really cool stuff. It gave me all the knowledge I needed to make a full fledge social networking site, so that book is pretty powerful. It is also very good for reference purposes after you have finished it.

Hey - I'm in the process of getting some php scripts together for my site but in the meantime I suggest www.phpvideotutorials.com

This site is very useful + there are quite a few free tutorials which explain alot!

and as you might of guessed they are all video tutorials so he talks you through it.

Good luck.

A great project is a simple CMS, or a portal for a popular forum application. For instance, try and make a site that reads the last 5 queries in a certain section of a forum (such as vBulletin or PHPBB), those will be your news post. Make that section only available to the administrators and you have yourself a secured portal, and an easy to use CMS.

I agree that a great project for a beginner to PHP and MySQL would be to make a simple CMS. If you want a good tutorial, here is one.

When building it, try to make sure that you understand how everything works and how it all goes together. And then when you're finished, spend some time coming up with new features and trying to add them in.

I only have limited knowledge in PHP but from the advice I've gotten, it seems that creating your own CMS as someone suggested is a good start as it covers a lot of the fundamentals including security such as escaping certain things to prevent exploits and so on.