What is the best way to store articles? I considered storing in a database, but how would this database be designed?

If you want to display the articles on the internet you will probably need a scripting language to access it. The easist thing would be CFM.

For the design just make one table and some fields to store the info in.

To do this, you can use PHP and MySQL, as one option. Using MySQL, you can store the articles on your database. Then using PHP, you simply extract the articles onto your site.

Try this link for a great tutorial on how to do this all.

Yes you could use those as well but CFM is far easier to learn check out these sites.

www.cfm-resources.com and www.allaire.com

I think that statement is a bit misleading

PHP and MySQL are an option. So are ColdFusion and Access. Or ASP and SQL Server. We all have our favorites.

In my experience, the easiest to learn is ColdFusion by far. However, web hosting for CF is more expensive than PHP, and to keep it affordable you have to use Access as your db, so performance suffers on high-traffic sites. SQL Server is preferable when using CF. I use ColdFusion and Access for my site, and performance is acceptable. You can get free CF hosting at CFM Resources, but I've never used them, so I don't know how good the performance is.

If cost is a concern, and you're not interested in CF, PHP and MySQL are a great pair from what I hear. Hosting is cheap, and the performance is good.

As far as how to go about building the database, that's a bit more than one message post can cover . SitePoint has several articles about the subject, so I'd check those out.

Thirdkind speaks the truth CFM is very easy to learn and can do the exact same as ASP and PHP. To be honest the whole this is better than that is utter ***** They all do the same, make databased sites. If you need a cheap host readyhosting.com will host you for 100 dollars a year. They include PHP as well so if you do think you were given the wrong language you can always swap

I'd like to re-point out (like thirdkind pointed out) that while CF is easier to learn, it does have less features and is much more expensive to host (generally).

Plus, the PHP/MySQL route would be faster if performance is a concern, so it has my vote. However, whatever solution you choose should work in some capacity.

Good luck!

Okay, I figured when I first signed up here that I'd be confronted by PHP zealots Nothing wrong with that, of course.

Can you explain that statement?

Speaking of CF, can I download a free module for Apache or something like that? I wouldn't mind trying it out.

You can download a tryout version of CF Server 5.0 here. There's also a freeware version called CF Express (limited functionality compared to the full retail version).

Hmm, turning out to be a real script language war..heh heh.

Anyway, another solution to your problem would be to download a ready made script, and simply install it on your site. I use News Publisher. Personally, I think its the best. And you don't have to know how to program to use it. All you need is Perl and SSI (two VERY common technologies)

Hope that helps...