Custom PHP MySQL databases are used to add interactive functionality to websites. By adding online tools, searchable databases of your work, pricing wizards and complex sign-up applications you can automate your business website.

Databases allow you to structure data on your website so that it can be searched, sorted, retrieved and displayed. Data can mean names, part numbers, photos or blocks of text. Databases allow visitors to interact with your website and make it much more than just a static electronic brochure.

For websites, the most popular database management system is MySQL, because it is free, works well, and most web hosts have it installed. This can be used in conjunction with a language such as PHP to create a website which interacts with the database.

PHP is probably the most popular of languages for interacting with MySQL databases. It can be easily used to create web pages for a site dynamically. Creating a web site in a language such as PHP and using a database to store the information, or some of it, has many advantages over a normal static site.

A database driven website involves the separation of a site’s content (words and pictures) from its design (the look, feel, and navigation). Databases are behind what makes Content Management Systems and Blogs work. PHP and MySQL are essential components for running the popular WordPress blogging platform. Some examples of online database applications are an online DISC personalty test or an online business systems analysis tool. Another common use is for vacation rental advertising websites.

Searchable databases are an excellent way to market anything that you keep in inventory. Structured correctly, these databases are regularly spidered by the search engines. So if you include specifics such as manufacturer and model number, these will come up in online searches. Databases of specialty used equipment and equipment parts do remarkably well with these online equipment databases.

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