Very specialized PHP/MySQL database program needed

[pmhoran]

A year and a half ago I posted a request for a PHP wizard/genius who would be willing to whip up what I have been told is a simple program for someone familiar with PHP. For some reason it was "sent" to the Marketplace section ... and I got no responses. So ... I figured I would try again

For years I have been wanting to add a "subdomain" to my www.merlinean.com website specifically about various diets & the foods you are permitted to eat with each one.

Trouble is ... many people (including myself) have a number of different specialized diets we are supposed to be sticking to ... but the foods that are permitted on one diet are not permitted on another. To have a dietician figure out what a person can and cannot have, costs $1000 or more ... an amount which usually exceeds a months pension $$$ most of us are on.

I have tried learning PHP/MySQL ... but the way my brain works these days ... I just haven't even been able to achieve even a basic understanding after 6 years of trying.

So ... I need someone to take the "vision" thats in my head & basically get it to work for me. Any Volunteers??? There is no panic in the timeline or when I need it. Its been 6 years now ... whats a few more months? So ... someone could work on it in their free time.

A few years I thought I had found someone who would help (I had a "plea" on my website & an online PHP group contacted me & one of their members volunteered). But when I explained what I needed to him ... he said it was simple enough that I could master it myself. At that point I had been trying for 3 years to "master it myself" and I couldn't. But he didn't understand that and basically said it wasn't enough of a challenge to waste his time on ... or something to that effect.

Anyway ... anyone interested in helping me out with this??? I am on a disability pension so just do not have the $$$ in order to pay someone ... sorry. So I definitely need a generous soul willing to spend some time to maybe help untold hundreds, or thousands, or ???? of people. I get 4,000 to 6,000 unique visitors to my site a month (last time I checked).

In lieu of payment ... I would be willing to display quite visibly a Thank You for your assistance as well as a banner ad if requested on my site & on the "diet section" as well. All at no charge ... for as long as my site is online (its been online for 9 years now & I have no intention of taking it offline) or as long as your business is online. Even if your business does close ... my public Thank You on those pages would remain because I will be eternally grateful for your assistance.

Thank you for your consideration ... even if you chose not to respond. I do appreciate it even if you thought about it for a minute or so

Peter

 

[Lesli]

Hi Peter,

So you're looking for something that can:
* categorize different diets
* list the foods which can and cannot be eaten, on each diet
* quickly and easily crossreference this information

If I'm understanding that correctly, I have an idea how to do this. Set up a CMS (like EE) so that there's a "page" for each kind of "diet", then a list of entries (foods) which can be eaten on that diet. The foods would be sorted by category (type of diet), and linked to a page where you could talk about any gotchas for the food.

Sortable, brainless to maintain, searchable. And I know just the tool to use...

 

[pmhoran]

Short version of my idea is ....

I would like to be able to enter a long list of "foods" ... fruits, veggies, meats etc ...

Then create, as needed, a specific diet and be able to go down the list of foods & check off if it is allowed or not.

Then ... when someone goes on the site ... they are taken to a page where they check off which diets apply to them ... and only foods contained & allowed on ALL the selected diets would get shown ... and there would be the option of printing off the page. If a food was NOT allowed on just one of the diets ... then it would not be on the list.

Basically ... I do not want any more detail than that. Don't want to get into discussions or "gotchas" or anything. There are TONS of websites for that. But I have not found ONE that will just take into account the Yes & No foods of the various diets to just make one single list of allowed foods for the "combined diets".

If I understand your suggestion ... I would just be recreating a page with one diet on it with the yes & no foods ... and each diet would need a different page. Again ... there are TONS of sites that already do that. But thanks for the suggestion Its just not what I am aiming for.

Peter

 

[Lesli]

Okay - I thought I was misunderstanding. It's much clearer when you explained the site, from the user perspective. You want some kind of inclusive search function. This *should* be easy enough for someone who's a PHP guru; but, alas, I am not. I'm much better at creative configurations. (I did figure out a quick-and-easy - and automatic - solution to one of your other sites...but not to this one.)

Best of luck!!

 

[ldcdc]

Maybe posting your request on a forum that's a bit more programming focused can yield results faster?

Also, I imagine a student (highschool or university) might be interested in something like this. I don't know how your educational system works, but here I sometimes found myself in the position where I needed an idea/theme/project to develop and present at the end of the semester.

 

[pmhoran]

Hmmmm ... our thought processes are following the same track. Which, for you, should not necessarily be considered comforting ... given the way my brain works these days hahahahaha

I was thinking of approaching the Computer Sciences department at the local high school to see if someone there "might" be interested.

Just need a day when the department head is available AND when I am thinking & can construct a sentence that sounds at least reasonably intelligent hehehehe

Thanks for the input ldcdc ... its appreciated.

And Lesli ... again thanks for you input in this thread & your suggestion in the other thread that helped me so much solve another problem.

Take care
Peter