Expert: Donald Hammond - 12/21/2009

Question
I am new to creating websites, but how would you link a database to a website? e.g. Login information, with passwords or ability to locate information from a database. I would also like to be able to access the database to update and edit it regularly. I am currently using Microsoft Access 2007. Is ColdFusion the right program for this?Thank you for all your help!

Answer
Aloha,
To link into a database first you need a database. I am assuming you are on a shared hosting plan of some sort. You need to talk to them about how to gain access to your database. Normally it requires them to set up an ODBC connection. (Don't worry that you don't know what that is)

ColdFusion is the easiest website programming language to use when working with databases, however it normally costs extra to have it enabled on a shared host and most shared hosting companies do not offer it.

If you want to use ColdFusion, let me know and I can tell you where to get super cheap hosting for it. But you need to KNOW CF before paying for it. You can actually download a developers' edition onto your own computer and learn it before actually paying for a hosting plan. Of course then you have the burden of setting up CF and the database yourself.  It is not hard, but it can be intimidating if you don't know what you are doing.

Also, I'd recommend getting a host with MSSQL server as a standard part of the plan. Access is not very powerful and is usually frowned on as a database to use in web applications.

Hope this helps,
Donald "DonOmite" Hammond
http://www.donomite.com
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