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In the last post, I discussed the beginnings of the administrative backend for a Web-based radio station request system written in PHP with MySQL.

To wrap the project up, we just need two more pages: One that will list off all the DJs that are in the system now, and one that will delete a DJ record. [Actually, we need to replicate this for the admins of the system, too. However, we're going to be lazy and just discuss the DJ section, since the admin records are fundamentally the same thing.]

Continue reading ‘A Simple PHP Script (MySQL, Too) To Track Radio Station Song Requests, Part 4’ »

In my last post on creating an online request system for an Internet radio station, we created a backend for DJs.

In this third of four parts, we create an administrative backend that will allow master users to add, edit and delete both DJs and admins to the system.

In order for this to work, you need to have a default admin user. Here’s a little SQL to get an initial user in the system:

INSERT INTO adminlist (admin_username, admin_password) VALUES ('admin', 'default')

You definitely want to delete this default user after you set up this program! Otherwise, you’re going to be seriously sorry; anyone who’s read this post will pretty much have full power over your request system if you don’t delete this record.

With a default user in place, we can begin with the needed pages.

Continue reading ‘A Simple PHP Script (MySQL, Too) To Track Radio Station Song Requests, Part 3’ »

In my last entry, I began a project to create a request system for an online radio station, using PHP and MySQL. I created the tables we’ll need, plus the front end for users.

With that done, we need to create a system for DJs to get their requests. This is a bit more complex, but in the grand scheme of projects, isn’t seriously heavy lifting.

This part has three steps:

1. Create a login page that sets a cookie for authenticated users
2. Provide a listing of current requests to authenticated users
3. Provide a way for the DJ to log out / close out all requests for a given shift

Continue reading ‘A Simple PHP Script (MySQL, Too) To Track Radio Station Song Requests, Part 2’ »

Recently asked on Yahoo! Answers:

I need a script to track requests. Can you help me?

I need a script that can track requests that listeners submit for an online internet radio station.

Something like http://www10.asphost4free.com/bigbradio/radiorequest/

That script is a bit more complex than I’ll bother doing for free, but the one I’ll put together should suffice quite nicely.

We need four parts to this script:

1. A few MySQL tables that will hold our data.
2. A public interface to add a request. That’s the easy part.
3. A simple admin backend for DJs to see their requests. That’s a bit more involved.
4. A management backend to manage the DJs. We could eventually extend that with more features, such as reporting on what songs are most requested, which DJs play the highest percentage of requested tunes, etc. That’s far more involved, so we won’t do that for the simple part.

Continue reading ‘A Simple PHP Script (MySQL, Too) To Track Radio Station Song Requests, Part 1’ »

More proof that sports writing (and, apparently, sports editing) is the ultimate job for the inane: ESPN.com’s Greg Garber.

In an article about placekickers, Garber discusses Adam Vinatieri’s impressive stats for game-winning field goals:

He hit the winner in Super Bowl XXXVI, a 40-yarder as time expired, to give the Patriots a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams. It was the first time a Super Bowl ended on the last play.

Actually, all 40 Super Bowls “ended on the last play.”

[Aside: I know that the first two Super Bowls were not originally called Super Bowls, but the name was there from the start, the NFL renamed the first two games as Super Bowls and the freakin' Super Bowl trophy is named after the guy who won those first two games, so as far as I am concerned, you can leave your nit-picking out of it and let me carry on with my own.]

What Garber meant to say, of course, is the kick marked the first time a Super Bowl was won by scoring on the last play.

Given that we’ve already established that intellect is not requisite in sports writing, I’ll let Garber have a pass, since the article is otherwise a good work and I’ve made many a gaffe along that line when spewing forth words on deadline.

What’s sad is that one would assume this article was edited prior to publication.

Continue reading ‘Sportswriting For Dummies, Part 2 (And The Inexact Science Of Copy Editing)’ »