I am still learning the art of website building. So much help is sought. I read through many of the posts at this forum, but did not find one to answer my question.

I want to set up a website that will allow authorized users to be able to place information about themselves into a database and the public will not be able to view the database. Only registered persons will be able to access the database to make changes and when they do access the database (to make changes) they will only be able to access their information. I think what I am looking for is call content management. I am aware of (but not able to navigate through them) PHP and MySQL, and not at all able to figure out all required to build the kind of database I desire.

I have been reading and checking out the open source programs and I am more confused about which would do what I want to accomplish. Or, is this something I should hire a freelance webbuilder to do?

Any suggestions would really be appreciated.

PHP and MySQL are likely tools that one would use to build a website like you described. I'm not too up-to-date on the features that the common downloadable content management systems (CMS) provide. I think that they are more commonly used for public content managed by a few admins rather than private content submitted by dozens of users, but all scripts can be modified to suit your needs. I'm sure that there is some script (maybe not specifically a CMS) out there that might be close to your needs, but usually they aren't close enough run out of the box

You are going to need to learn a server-side language (like PHP) to do this, if you end up using a downloaded script or create your own custom script. It's going to take a little bit of time to learn it, especially if you're new to programming, so if you are in a hurry to get this website out there, you may want to consider hiring a freelancer or development company.

Frost,

Well put. Even if you do find a viable CMS, how are you going to be able to edit the proper files correctly if you don't know php/mysql? Hire a firm