DMS315 s12/hw2

Homework, due Thursday, 9 February, 11:59 pm

Implement a very basic blog.

The project will consist of two scripts plus a form (which can be either an HTML page or a PHP script).

One script displays the content of the blog
At the end of the displayed blog there should be a link to the form
The form allows adding new entries to the blog. There should be at least two fields in the form - a multi-line text area for the entry, and a text input for the poster's name. All fields should be labelled.
The form will post its contents to a script, which appends the new entry to the existing blog and then displays a link back to the first page (the blog contents)
Each blog entry should start with one line containing the poster's name and the date it was posted, followed by the text. The name & date should be formatted differently from the text (use CSS or appropriate HTML tags).

Implementation notes:

Save the blog contents in a text file - whenever a new entry is posted, it is added to the end of the file.
You have to get the date yourself and add it to the posting - search the PHP manual for an appropriate function
All pages should be valid HTML, which passes the W3's validator with no errors (warnings are ok)

Some more advanced tricks to consider (not required):

The script that adds a new entry can redirect browsers back to the main blog page using PHP's header() command, rather than displaying a link
Sanitize all input, to remove any HTML code that might contain Javascript injection attacks
Structure the text file so that your blog-display script processes it and adds the HTML markup on the fly. With a structured file you could add options like showing only the last few entries, or showing entries in reverse-chronological order.

Submit your assignment in a single zip or tar file using the form: http://gamera.caset.buffalo.edu/~depape/315/turnin.html