First Things First - PHP

The best thing to do first, I say, is to get out some paper and one of those sticks that write stuff.... Oh, yeah, a pencil! Then literally draw out a diagram of your plan on coding. No need for a bunch of words, just horribly sketched boxes and lines, labeled with each elements name. I decided that I would need to first create, in order, the following things for my site engine:

• Database
• Main index page
• Plug-in system
• Module system (plug-ins for the plug-ins)
• Content blocks

So, trying to stay advanced, I grabbed my $5 mechanical pencil, and I sketched it out like this:

Pretty isn't it? Basically, what I have here is my index page calls the database, selects all the plug-ins that are initialized for the specific site, then the plug-ins select all the modules that at initialized for the selected plug-ins. Then the modules select all the content blocks that are initialized for the selected modules with a few more parameters checked, such as authentication level and specific page. Then it's all returned to the index page to form the website. This diagram is an easier read.

Index >--call plug-ins--> Loaded Plug-ins >--call modules--> Loaded modules >--call block--> Loaded blocks >--return data--> Index displays data

This has shown to be a very solid method of doing a plug-in system, due to the fact that if a plug-in isn't loaded the content block that depends on that certain plug-in won't load and cause nasty errors. Now that the plug-ins have been briefly described, I'll talk about the authentication and block systems.