baseportal - Easy Start

baseportal

Easy Start

Now the window of your browser is split: Here in the top frame, there is the "Easy start" with step by step instructions. In the bottom frame, there is the sign up page. You get there by clicking on "Sign up" on the homepage.

In the following example, we will create a small "news system", step by step. This system will allow you to present news on your web page, fast and comfortably. You'll need about 5 minutes to do this...

Create an account
To access and maintain your database you have to create an account with a name and password:

Fill out the fields as described...
...read the terms of use and click here to agree...
...and finally click on "Sign up"

Your first web database
Next you could choose an existing application template - however, if you want to learn something, you should create your own database:

Click here to create a new database

The first field
Let's get right down to business: You will define the fields of the database. For our news system we need the following fields: "Title", "Text", "Author"... Let's begin with the first field:


Enter the field name: "Title"
Select the type of sorting: "Text"
Click on "Submit"

You may leave all other input fields like "Size", "Default" or "Password" empty, because baseportal automatically takes reasonable values, e.g. a size of 20 characters for a text field (This only determines the width of the input field - the input itself can be arbitrarily long).

Know-how: Sorting fields (create an index)

We need to sort fields because we want to search our database later. Scanning many thousands or even millions of entries line by line would last a very long time. Fortunately, there is a way out: The database pre-sorts certain fields (it creates an index from the data given). Now, no matter how large the data is, accessing it happens very fast. However this method also has its disadvantages: It needs additional storage and the data needs to be sorted again each time you add or modify data. That's why you should only sort fields when you know you'll need to search them later on.

The next fields
After you have stored the first field, you'll receive a confirmation and a list of the fields already defined, in our case, only one entry. Now we define the next field. It is not a single-line input field but a text field of several lines:

	The field was stored successfully
	Here you see the field which was just defined, with the name, sorting, type and parameters
	Click on "textarea" to select the type of the next field

Fill out the input fields for the second field:


Enter the name of the second field: "Text"
Enter the columns of the text field: e.g. 50
Enter the rows of the text field: e.g. 10
Click on "Submit"

And the second field is defined in the database. The third and last field is a single-line text field again:


	Here you see the second field. "Parameters" shows you the number of columns and rows
	Click on "text" in order to select the type of the third field

Just enter the name of the last field and leave all other input fields empty:


Enter the name of the third field: "Author"
Click on "Submit"

Very good! You defined all fields of the database. The complete field table looks like this:

Action	#	Field	Sorting	Type	Parameters
Modify \| Delete	1	Title	Text	text
Modify \| Delete	2	Text	---	textarea	Columns=50, Rows=10
Modify \| Delete	3	Author	---	text

The next step
Let's go to the next step, the design of the database page.


Click on "Next step" (at the bottom of the page)

Design
Now we have to design the web page with the output of our database. A quick way to do this is to use one of the existing design templates. However, to produce really satisfying content you should use HTML.

	You are on step 2: "Design"
	Click on "Do not use a template"

You can enter HTML code directly in the textarea. The important piece of code is <do action=all>. That's where the output of the database appears.


Insert <do action=all> before the following line: < h2>Interesting News</h2 >
Click on "Submit"

Know-how: HTML

HTML is the language of the "World Wide Web" - all pages in the Internet are written in HTML. HTML consists of two parts: Normal text that is written as-is and so-called tags, which determine HOW something is written, e.g. bold or in the color red. All tags start with the left angle bracket < and end with the right angle bracket >. Some tags are single, like <br> , the tag for a line feed, some enclose a range, which they affect. The end of the range is marked with an associated tag with the same name as the starting tag but with a slash / in the beginning, e.g. <i>This text is italic.</i>. This produces the following output: This text is italic.

Settings
You control the database with some settings. The most important setting is definitely the rights assignment: Everyone may read the data of our news system (that's what news is for), but nobody may add, modify or delete the data except you. To let the newest messages appear on top of the page you have to reverse the order of the output.

	You are on step 3: "Settings"
	This allows everybody to view the contents of the database
	Put a check at "Reverse output order?"

That's all:


Click on "Next step" (at the bottom)

Enter Data
Great! You've created your first baseportal database - a small web-based news system! Take a look at how you enter new data:


	Follow the link "How to maintain my data?"

A new browser window opens and requests for sign in:

The user name you chose
Enter the password you chose
Click on "Sign in"

A nearly empty page appears with a menu bar offering different possibilities. To enter new data select "New":

Click on "New"

An input form comes up with the defined database fields "Title", "Text" and "Author":


Enter a title for your first news
Enter a text, if necessary with blank lines
Enter an author
Click on "Submit"

Just make another entry (and another and another...):

	The entry has been stored
	Fill out the fields and click on "Submit"

Read, modify and delete data
After you've made enough entries, you can access them...

Click on "All"

...and modify them, if necessary:

	Here you see the list of all records
	Click on "Modify" at the desired entry

An input form appears, containing the data of the entry. Modifying is simple:

Here you see that you modify an entry
Modify arbitrary fields. You can add new, delete old or modify existing data
Click on "Submit"

The list of the entries appears again with the changed data. Removing an entry works with a single click:

	The entry was changed
	The list with the changed entries
	Click on "Delete" at one of the entries

After a safety confirmation...


The entry to be deleted
Click on "OK"

... the entry has been removed from the database:

	The entry was deleted
	The list with the remaining entries

Show data to visitors
Right now, only you are allowed to add or modify data. Visitors can only read the data. In order to see how this works, please go back to the window "Congratulations, you've created your first web-based database!"...


Click on the link "To my database"

Another window opens for the visitors of you page:

	The menu bar contains no "New" or "Modify"
	The entries, without the possibility to "Modify" or "Delete"

Your Private Domain
Congratulations! We've reached the end of our small baseportal introductory course - you've successfully passed! ;-) However you've only learned a few of the possibilities baseportal can offer - there is still a lot to discover... Next time you come to baseportal you can sign in directly on the homepage:

Enter your user name. The check is case sensitive!
Enter your password
Click on "Sign in"

There you can get into your private domain, where you can change the design and the fields of your first database, import or export data, create new databases and pages and much, much more...

We hope that this small introduction was helpful and we wish you:

Much fun and success with baseportal!

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