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Hello all,
Since now, each time I have needed to make a web page I've ended up by programming everything using PHP and tuning a lot of CSS.
If you would have to make a small web page with a database for languages and texts, some pictures... what would you use?
I would like something that would be easy and not expensive... i.e. LAMP is usually cheap when searching for hosting.
I've seen that Wordpress seems to be covering the 25% of the current Internet pages... Is that a good option? It looks like that it would cost 3 times the normal LAMP environment in my hosting company.
I'd like to have the Web site compatible to mobile phones, ready to print and all those "sugar" thingies that help getting better search results.
What would you recommend?
Thank you all! 
modified 24-Mar-16 7:45am.
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There are two bones of contention here, really:
1. What to use to build the site
2. Hosting
Me, I wouldn't look for a single solution to both.
Hosting is the one that costs money, so you want to find a host at "the right price" (which is entirely dependent on what it's worth to you), that has all the CGI libraries, etc. available (and doesn't charge "too much" extra for them).
For building the site, why give yourself sleepless nights? Use what you like using. Visitors won't be able to tell the difference.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: For building the site, why give yourself sleepless nights? Use what you like using. Visitors won't be able to tell the difference.
Yes, you are right, but I'd like to have it compatible to mobile phones, ready to print and all those "sugar" thingies that help getting better search results.
Now I have a fixed layout made using PHP and some CSS and a database link using MySQL and some texts introduced there using TinyMCE, this works and of course the visitor can't tell how it is done... but it should give me much more job to adapt it and to make it grow than some CMS out there (I guess).
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Joan Murt wrote: but it should give me much more job to adapt it and to make it grow than some CMS out there (I guess).
You're probably right in that, but I still see wordpress, etc, as being too much of a worry/hassle for too little gain.
For example, my site is plain HTML (because it doesn't need more than that), but there's not a month goes by that the server logs don't show multiple attempts to access the admin files of wordpress and other CMS systems -- which, of course, aren't there, so I don't have to spend three seconds worrying about it.
Fixed-but-bespoke can be good, because it's hard for bots to mess with it.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Could I see your site? just curious...
Yes, you are right... believe it or not, I was hacked once and started to announce those blue pills without knowledge time ago... 
And without wordpress...
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It's in my profile, but it's really just vanilla HTML, because that's all I need for what I use it for. Even a database would be a waste of effort.
Joan Murt wrote: started to announce those blue pills without knowledge
heh. At least it was for a good cause. Make sure that you can restore the entire site with a few clicks (it might take hours, but you don't want to be sitting there watching it). Keep a separate restore script for the index files, and another for the rest.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I take that back; it's not in my profile (I was sure that there was a field for that; but when you've signed up for a zillion sites, they all become a blur).
It's my initial and surname, with no spaces, dashes, or anything else, followed by a dot and "nl".
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Joan Murt wrote: but I'd like to have it compatible to mobile phones, ready to print and all those "sugar" thingies that help getting better search results.
What would you say to a client that hired you to do a project, but didn't tell you about major features it required until after you signed the contract ?
«The truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught. You cannot have the truth in such a way that you catch it, but only in such a way that it catches you.» Soren Kierkegaard
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Depends on the time to do those features... if time is not a problem... let's say... 6000€ per hour?
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The point I evidently failed to make was to call to your attention that your first description of what you wanted was expanded significantly in your first reply to Mark Wallace.
Good luck with your web-site !
cheers, Bill
«The truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught. You cannot have the truth in such a way that you catch it, but only in such a way that it catches you.» Soren Kierkegaard
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OK, understood now.
Yes, it was not too descriptive at the beginning... I'll update it...
Thank you Bill!
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Joan Murt wrote: What would you recommend?
PHP and CSS, since that's what you're familiar with.
I have no experience with Wordpress, but what you want does not sound like it needs be complicated 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Joan Murt wrote: What would you recommend?
This is mainly as Windows-centric site, so most people here will say ASP.NET. That being said, Eddy said it best. For a simple site, use what you know, PHP and the LAMP stack works just fine. If you want to learn something new that's a different story, in which case I'd recommend you start using a CSS pre-processor such as Less[^] or Sass[^] instead of raw CSS.
If you're curious to know what other devs are doing, then I'm about to make a personal site that uses PHP on the backend, but it's strictly an API that uses micro services. On the frontend I'm using a Flux implementation called Redux with React, and ES2015 transpiling via Babel and Node.js.
Jeremy Falcon
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Joan Murt wrote: What would you recommend?
Since you asked, just try a free trial with Azure. (a sponsor here) I tried it out about a year ago for personal use and have been pleased. You can code in .NET or PHP. My bill runs about $5 US/month. (for 1 very small sql server database and 1 ASP.NET app)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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kmoorevs wrote: My bill runs about $5 US/month.
That is gonna change of course now that you have exposed yourself here to +12 million members. Expect at least a $10 bill the next time...
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Johnny J. wrote: now that you have exposed yourself here
Now, that's a scary thought!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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I'd say that there is a reason that Wordpress has such a large audience. It's by far the easiest and most user friendly CMS I've ever worked with. And you can do a nice page without coding at all. The number of plugins available is impressive, and there's almost no specific task you can't find a readymade (and most often free) plugin for.
That said, If I feel the urge to code myself, I strongly prefer Visual Studio and ASP.Net. But that's just my personal preference.
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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I've just beginning to code a new website. I've decided to use ASP.NET 5 Core, MVC6 and Metro UI rather than the included Bootstrap. I wanted to use Visual Basic (NO, I won't wash my mouth out) but is isn't supported by ASP.NET 5 Core yet, so I am having to use C#. I have used BASIC and VB since Sinclair produced his first computer, the ZX Spectrum. Most of my time contracting was writing VB programs, so I will decide later whether I recode the website.
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WordPress is great if you have a lot of dynamic content. I created and manage a WP site for our high school bands, we have regular updates made by non-IT people. I easily taught a few people, including the band director, how to create posts (dynamic content), and taught the booster president how to update static pages. A lot of providers have one-click installers for WP, and if not? You know LAMP so you'll not find it a challenge.
WP automatically provides a mobile interface. I can't say it's the best, but it is certainly functional and it cost me no time. I expect that it's possible to customize that, but it hasn't been a priority so I have not investigated.
Cons? Learning curve and hidden costs. The basics are very simple, but things ramp up. None of this should be difficult to an experienced web developer, but you will eventually have numerous plugins, all with differing interfaces and quality. Knowing LAMP makes things easier (I didn't) but you'll spend more time than you expect learning how the components work. Again, not difficult (IMO) but time consuming.
WP is popular so it gets hacked. I have plugins for: login security, web page security, reducing comment spam, backup-n-restore, plus various miscellaneous things. A lot of plugins are free, but the quality varies dramatically, as does the documentation.
Hidden costs? My provider is about $110 USD/year, including 1 domain, infinite sub-domains, unlimited storage and bandwidth -- this is my known (fixed) cost. WP is free and you can get a free plugin for virtually anything you need.
However ... quality varies. Free themes have issues (ya get what ya pay for), so I finally invested in a commercial theme (which I use on multiple sites). The hassle it saved me and the flexibility it provides are worth the money. I also purchased a good backup/restore system as the free ones tend to be complicated. The one I bought requires some technical knowledge (how to create a MySQL database) and how to use an FTP client. Again, money well spent -- although I use these products on multiple sites so I get more bang for my buck.
Note that WP sites are NOT my day job. I'm supporting a couple of groups and doing it for myself, so it's all off-hours work.
You can install WP locally and play with it. I suggest you do that before you commit yourself. WP has great value but it's definitely not the right solution for all problems.
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Is it me or the people after the Netflix series Daredevil is making a terrific job?
I've just seen the end of the season 2 and I think it is a wonderful tribute to the best comics for this hero.
SEASON 1 SPOILERS AHEAD
Great portrait for Kingpin.
Great introduction to the hand by showing us Nobu dressed as the sect dresses their ninjas.
Powerful characters (Madam Gao, Nelson, Page, Stick).
Melvin Potter as The Gladiator (which is never shown as the villain).
SEASON 2 SPOILERS AHEAD
Wonderful The Punisher character.
Again Nobu and the Hand which now it is fully shown.
Elektra, who is what the comic depicted.
...
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Joan Murt wrote: I've just seen the end of the season 2...
13 episodes in (less than) five days? Wow!
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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Daredevil + Frank Miller = Wow!
Daredevil + just about anyone else = meh
I watched the first couple of episodes of the first season, and lost interest. Is the second season an improvement?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: Daredevil + Frank Miller = Wow!
Agree.
There are lots of good Daredevil comics out there... not all of them, but some small jewels here and there.
The second season is the right step forward from the first one.
The first one is presenting the hero, it is very nice when Stick appears and the ninja thing appears on scene. From there it is nice to see the series.
I like better the second season than the first one.
There is a really nice fight scene on a building stairs which is really nice as it tries to be on the very same sequence.
Give it a try and probably you'll like it.
I enjoyed it.
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I'll give it a go -- I'm getting precious little for my subscription money, so far, so I might as well try it.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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