• 0

Is it Standards Compliant to mix HTML and PHP?

Asked by winlonghorn,

 Share

Question

21 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
Grand Master

+virtorio MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

What standard are you talking about? If you're asking about HTML standards then it doesn't matter what server side technology (PHP, ASP.net, Python) is used because the clients browser doesn't receive it, only the output of those programs/scripts.

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What standard are you talking about? If you're asking about HTML standards then it doesn't matter what server side technology (PHP, ASP.net, Python) is used because the clients browser doesn't receive it, only the output of those programs/scripts.

I am talking about HTML standards. I just want to make sure that it remains fully compliant. I am working on a CMS and being able to mix the two will make it much easier to create the system. Also, would you recommend that route or maybe using AJAX to implement it? It will be a basic CMS system, but I want it to be able to refresh content on the page without redirecting the user.

  • 0
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Me thinks you've got your terms a bit mixed up. PHP will generate HTML, you won't see the PHP in the final markup. HTML standards compliance is a bit of a mixed bag these days, in general people are more concerned about making sure the markup works cross browser than strict adherence to standard, mostly because a lot of HTML 5 features aren't standardized yet.

The main thing to do when using PHP to generate HTML is to separate out the logic from the markup, so that if someone else wanted to redesign or reuse the HTML code, they wouldn't have to sort out all of the PHP to do so.

  • Seahorsepip
  • Like 1
  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Me thinks you've got your terms a bit mixed up. PHP will generate HTML, you won't see the PHP in the final markup. HTML standards compliance is a bit of a mixed bag these days, in general people are more concerned about making sure the markup works cross browser than strict adherence to standard, mostly because a lot of HTML 5 features aren't standardized yet.

The main thing to do when using PHP to generate HTML is to separate out the logic from the markup, so that if someone else wanted to redesign or reuse the HTML code, they wouldn't have to sort out all of the PHP to do so.

Ok, so something like:


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <head>
	    <meta charset="utf-8" />
	    <title>PHP Standards Compliant Test</title>
    </head>
    <body>
	    <?php require 'form.php';?>
    </body>
</html>
[/CODE]

Is that what you mean?

  • 0
Grand Master

LaP

Posted
Posted

Ok, so something like:


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>PHP Standards Compliant Test</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<?php require 'form.php';?>
	</body>
</html>
[/CODE]

Is that what you mean?

We can't tell you if it's standard or not cause we don't know what html code the form.php page will generate.

To know if it's standard load the page in Firefox like a client would do and Validate it using a validator.

  • 0
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Ok, so something like:


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>PHP Standards Compliant Test</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<?php require 'form.php';?>
	</body>
</html>
[/CODE]

Is that what you mean?

More likely you'd include the form in the HTML, do simple validation with javascript, and use AJAX to send the results to a php file which handles it, then sends some information back which is processed through javascript, with a fallback to do that without javascript.

The way you have it there's probably a form with HTML markup stuck with PHP code.

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

More likely you'd include the form in the HTML, do simple validation with javascript, and use AJAX to send the results to a php file which handles it, then sends some information back which is processed through javascript, with a fallback to do that without javascript.

The way you have it there's probably a form with HTML markup stuck with PHP code.

Ok, so the way that I originally wrote my code would probably be best then? Here is what I had:

news.html:

http://pastebin.com/rB9WgnD2[

ajax.js:

http://pastebin.com/9k1FJq5G

news.php:

http://pastebin.com/dfPtPL6h

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Just an FYI, alternative syntax makes mixing PHP and HTML easier:

[color=#000000][color=#0000BB]<?php while[/color][color=#007700]([/color][color=#0000BB]$a [/color][color=#007700]== [/color][color=#0000BB]5[/color][color=#007700]): [/color][color=#0000BB]?>[/color]
A is equal to 5
[color=#0000BB]<?php endwhile[/color][color=#007700]; [/color][color=#0000BB]?>[/color] [/color] [/CODE]

also mysql_connect is not a good start... look into mysqli and prepared statements.

Ok, thank you!

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I decided to proceed with writing my own very basic cms because I don't require a lot of features right away and I want full control of the code. I want to be able to control every aspect of how the system works and have full freedom to modify it. I just have one more quick question. Is it wise to use just one news.js and news.php script and have each page that is displaying news pass in its own category? If not, what would you recommend to generate each page's news? I appreciate all of your help.

  • 0
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

I decided to proceed with writing my own very basic cms because I don't require a lot of features right away and I want full control of the code. I want to be able to control every aspect of how the system works and have full freedom to modify it. I just have one more quick question. Is it wise to use just one news.js and news.php script and have each page that is displaying news pass in its own category? If not, what would you recommend to generate each page's news? I appreciate all of your help.

Just FYI, if this is for fun, or to learn something, go right ahead. If this is going to end up on the web in some way... I'd argue it's a terrible idea. Basically, you have full control over any framework or CMS if you want it, but you also get the advantage of having someone track down bugs / build in security / make things easier for you, and provide an update path, which is fairly important in PHP.

As for your second question, yes, one script or function will always be better than multiples of them doing the same thing.

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Just FYI, if this is for fun, or to learn something, go right ahead. If this is going to end up on the web in some way... I'd argue it's a terrible idea. Basically, you have full control over any framework or CMS if you want it, but you also get the advantage of having someone track down bugs / build in security / make things easier for you, and provide an update path, which is fairly important in PHP.

As for your second question, yes, one script or function will always be better than multiples of them doing the same thing.

Ok, thank you. I appreciate the help. It is actually for a church website that I am developing. Are there any good tutorials related for drupal in that case. I have no clue where to even begin. It has to be able to integrate with my website theme as well.

  • 0
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Drupal's documentation is pretty good. It might help to pick up a book (I've read through this one, it's good, but save some money and get an e-version) as it will have a good explanation of using views.

Just to clarify, I suggested Drupal because it looked like you were planning on display a lot of information drawn from a database, which Views is great for. I find Wordpress to be easier to use if you're just dealing with posts / pages. Either can be themed, and you can set up a child theme from a template to get up and running faster.

  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Drupal's documentation is pretty good. It might help to pick up a book (I've read through this one, it's good, but save some money and get an e-version) as it will have a good explanation of using views.

Just to clarify, I suggested Drupal because it looked like you were planning on display a lot of information drawn from a database, which Views is great for. I find Wordpress to be easier to use if you're just dealing with posts / pages. Either can be themed, and you can set up a child theme from a template to get up and running faster.

I am planning to display a lot of information actually. It is going to build up over time and consist of news, blog posts, and occasionally a letter from the pastor. In depth content management is very important. If I can get this to work well, it will free up a lot of time for me to create other custom components. Hopefully I can figure out Drupal and make it fit into my site.

  • 0
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

I am planning to display a lot of information actually. It is going to build up over time and consist of news, blog posts, and occasionally a letter from the pastor. In depth content management is very important. If I can get this to work well, it will free up a lot of time for me to create other custom components. Hopefully I can figure out Drupal and make it fit into my site.

OK... then I would actually suggest Wordpress. :D It will be easier to theme, and easier to get others to add content to if that is ever the case in the future. For that I would recommend a book, as the Wordpress documentation can drive you crazy sometimes, although perhaps someone else can chime in with a good one, as I've sort of picked it up over time.

Drupal is better if you had, for example, a database of all the events for multiple churches in an area, and you wanted to be able to sort the events and see who was going to each event.

  • Seahorsepip
  • Like 1
  • 0
Experienced

winlonghorn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

OK... then I would actually suggest Wordpress. :D It will be easier to theme, and easier to get others to add content to if that is ever the case in the future. For that I would recommend a book, as the Wordpress documentation can drive you crazy sometimes, although perhaps someone else can chime in with a good one, as I've sort of picked it up over time.

Drupal is better if you had, for example, a database of all the events for multiple churches in an area, and you wanted to be able to sort the events and see who was going to each event.

Well, after thorough research, it looks like I can't run drupal 7 on my godaddy hosting plan. I guess I am stuck coding it myself because I do need the site to be fully enabled for those advanced features at some point. It is going to continually evolve to include new features as time goes on. :) It isn't a news only site. That is just how it is going to be until I am able to add more to it.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to question listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Microsoft will finally let you sign in to Edge with a Google account

      By leonsk29 · Posted

      Microsoft Edge comes pre-installed with Windows 11 and it's a great browser, so why not use it? Not everyone is trying to run away from Google, sometimes people just want convenience and less friction.
    • Epic Games says Unreal Engine 6 will help developers "build content faster" using AI models

      By Stup0t · Posted

      AI makes the games. AI plays the games We all watch them in a streaming service.... Welcome to the future.
    • My favorite file manager for Windows 11 finally gets a long-requested feature

      By Fleet Command · Posted

      No. The file manager is a lost cause. After all, its dev receives all the undeserved praise he could evre wish from Neowin, without having actually earned it. This has never lead to improvements.
    • TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.70.0

      By Copernic · Posted

      TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.70.0 by Razvan Serea GPU-Z is a lightweight system utility designed to provide vital information about your video card and graphics processor. At launch, it automatically scans your system and reports the card name, GPU, release date and transistors, BIOS version, ROPs, memory type, and memory size. Main Features: Supports NVIDIA, AMD, ATI and Intel graphics devices Displays adapter, GPU and display information Displays overclock, default clocks and 3D clocks (if available) Includes a GPU load test to verify PCI-Express lane configuration Validation of results GPU-Z can create a backup of your graphics card BIOS No installation required, optional installer is available Support for Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 (both 32 and 64 bit versions are supported) GPU-Z 2.70.0 changelog: Improved kernel driver security Added die size for Qualcomm Adreno 741 Added support for NVIDIA RTX 6000D, RTX Pro 500 Blackwell Embedded, Tesla V100-DGXS-32GB, PG500-216 Added support for Intel Arc Pro B70, B65, A60 ES, Alder Lake ES Added support for Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite, 778G/782G Added vendor detection for HKC/Sambada, AWES Download page: GPU-Z 2.70.0 | 11.1 MB (Freeware) View: GPU-Z Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Epic Games says Unreal Engine 6 will help developers "build content faster" using AI models

      By +pmrd · Posted

      I know I won't ever be using it to make my game. I'd rather pay humans.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      Vincian earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      Jocimo earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      suprememobiles48 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Prasann earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      518
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      159
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      86
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      67
    5. 5
      neufuse
      64
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!