4 replies
I started making a few posts on my blog about the PHP code I had written, database connection, pagination etc. But then I stopped as I thought it may be good to write a small book instead.

I was going to cover some basics, or perhaps link to some basics. Then take the reader through writing a database driven website in PHP. It would show the user how to create a blog, comments system, pagination etc. However, the goal would be for the user to understand PHP and a little about databases too.

I know many people do not wish to know this as they just use a CMS already out there but do you think there is a market for such a book? The reason I think it would be good is not so the reader can build a blog but so they can hopefully go away and hack away at an opensource forum to give it some cool functionality or something similar.

What are your thoughts? I don't want to bother wasting my time if no one thinks it is a good idea.
#guide #php #writing
  • Profile picture of the author dtang4
    Is this a book you plan to sell or give away for free?

    My concern would be, if the former, there are so many free resources for PHP and MySQL out there that few would be willing to pay for a book... unless it's something very specific and included turnkey scripts.
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  • Profile picture of the author burton247
    It would be free and I was thinking about packing all the scripts in there ready to use but I was unsure if there would be point as all the code would be there in the book.

    Perhaps a CMS style attachment? But is that really what we need, more CMS'?
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    • Profile picture of the author marcuslim
      I am not sure how appealing this will be to marketers as it is not directly tied to getting traffic and conversions, or saving time and money. Far better I think, to create little PHP code snippets that marketers can quickly use to add functionality to their sales letters, like a scarcity counter. I dunno, if you look at the WSO forum, there's hardly any product about PHP. However, ready-made 'done for you' PHP scripts do sell well though.
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      • Profile picture of the author burton247
        That's a good idea, I hadn't really considered that. I'll have to do some research into what people will actually find useful. Thanks for the advise
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