Web Development with PHP and Mysql

Development of the RemindMe Service

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Introduction

I'm horrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries. I can remember them for my immediate family (usually a day later), but not for relatives, friends, or my in-laws. I've tried various solutions, but none have worked. The batteries died on my electronic organizer, I lose the pieces of paper I tried writing them on, and the latest spreadsheet was forgotten when I had to reinstall my computer.

As someone who makes websites for a living, I came to the obvious conclusion of building a website that would store the information for me. There are many benefits to such an approach:

• The information will always be stored in one place. With proper backups at a hosting provider, the information will never be lost.
• Access from anywhere. I can check for upcoming dates even when I'm out of town.
• Reminders can come to me. If the information is already on a computer, why shouldn't the computer email me to remind me of the upcoming special occasion?
• I've been putting off writing an article for my company's website for too long, this will let me kill two birds with one stone.

I'm going to develop the site in PHP and Mysql. As I follow the development of the website in this article I'll look at database design, database access with PHPLIB, user management, session management, security, PHP classes, and more.

1. Introduction
2. Research
3. Data Modelling
4. Database Access
5. Website Design
6. User Management
7. Account Creation / Logging In
8. Page Layout
9. Reminder Events
10. Sending Reminders
11. Conclusion