[rippa]

Hi,

I've created a website, now I have a lot of data of customers which I want to be able to search through my website. The the data is currently on paper e.g. name, company name, contact number, address, post code etc.
Obviously i'm going to need to manually type up the data into a program, which is not a problem for me.

The issue is that the website currently doesnt use a search function nor do I have any database. So my questions are, how do I get my website to read from a database? what database programs shall I use to input my customer information on?

Any reply would be appreciated.

Thanks

[datahound]

I use PHP systems which are probably easiest for the beginner.

You will need to buy a webhosting package with PHP and mySQL database support. This will cost about £30 a year. These people me2uweb - Internet solutions I have used for years. Buy the Ultra Bronze package with your domain.

You now need to learn how to with PHP connect to a mySQL db. Add a record, delete a record, update a record. Display contents from the db.

Also how to set up mySQL database.

I built one of these recently, I would do the whole thing for £(I have PM'd you a price) plus VAT inc the hosting. You can then put the addresses in one at a time via the admin or supply me with a spreadsheet and I will import in one go.

[tobor]

Or, use a crawler search to build the an index search of the site:
Google Custom Search Engine
This goog edition provides you with an XML format result that you can do whatever with.

[haku]

It is possible to create XML files manually as well, through which you can search to find the information you want, but its going to be much easier to do with with a database.