What would i need to learn to be able to build a classified site ex: autotrader...on a smaller scale. Iv'e been into web design for a while and i'm in the process of learning css and soon i was looking at getting into php and mysql. Would php and mysql be a good combination for building a dynamic site of that sort?

PHP/MySQL would be fine for a project of that type, but it might not be the best project to take on, unless Craigslist doesn't exist in your area. Even Google "Base" never got off the ground in the face of competition from CL.

Anyway, a database ( MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MS Access ) is like an Excel file, with a bunch of tables, and more strict rules about the data that can go into them. Because of those rules, you know that anything in the database is as it should be. That makes them great for storing ( and manipulating ) data, on a large scale.

And then PHP or ASP or even Perl or Python are languages that carry out orders they've been given. Usually these commands involve talking to a database, and turning the db results into html. This means you can have software ( that runs on the web server ) be used on a Mac, PC, or a WebTV.

You could instead look for a content management system that will do what you're looking for, but if you're using this as a way to pick up new skills and get your feet wet, you'd want to decide how to structure your data ( which depends on what you want to store and how you want to use it ), then when that's done, you would write code to interact with the data and spit out html/css.

thx alot that was real helpful

and yea i just wanna do this just to get my feet wet with dynamic web site building and online business. It's not gonna be anything big, or a car classified either, i'm aiming at something different and i'm also going keep it fairly local.

I run a Korea classifieds and the site is basd on PHP/MySQL.

http://www.usfkclassifieds.com

Mike

I own large Australian and New Zealand Automotive classified sites. They are written in asp.net using sql.
Check them out and let me know if I can help further.
www.autoline.com.au

You may want to try and find a classifieds script that you can purchase. Even if you want to build your own, seeing demos of others will help bring ideas.

try this free script... i will say its the best....

http://www.deltascripts.com/phpclassifieds


if u select not using this, you can learn much from this

php mysql rocks

cheers

rep appreciated

I'd recommend using http://www.iautosoftware.com, rather that developing by yourself. It will save your time and money.

Yeah you will never be able to compete with Craigslist. Find something else.

The problem is that most probably CL will die if they won't find a better solution to fight with spam. (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001123.html)
So if you think you can bring something new here you should try. But I'm sure you won't be able to beat CL using free copycat scripts... Build something custom!

I think craigslist has recently done a decent job to defend against spam. All free classified sites will always have the risk of people posting junk but with tools such as CAPTCHA it has helped tone it down a bit. People would have to invest a lot of time to get around it.