PHP for School Projects: From Web Pages to a Working Database App (Ages 15–18)

Before you start

• Basic HTML and CSS, and a little JavaScript — the kind covered in school web or IT courses
• A Windows, Mac or Linux computer where you are allowed to install XAMPP (free)
• About 45 minutes per lesson, plus your own time on the project

Curriculum

Lesson 1 is free to read, no account needed. The rest unlock the moment you buy.

1. 1 What a school web project actually needs Preview free A page shows things; an application remembers them. Where the server side fits after school HTML/CSS/JavaScript, the project you will build, and PHP running on your own computer by the end of the lesson. 5 min
2. 2 The browser side you will actually use A tight recap of HTML, CSS and JavaScript aimed at this project — semantic layout, forms with labels, tables, one stylesheet, and the small amount of JavaScript an app needs. 3 min
3. 3 PHP in one lesson Variables, strings, arrays, if, loops and functions — the whole core of PHP in one sitting, using a marks list you can run straight away. 4 min
4. 4 Functions, includes and the project skeleton Stop copying the header into every page. Helper functions, a config file, a shared header and footer, and the folder layout the whole project will use. 4 min
5. 5 Forms — reading input without trusting it GET and POST, the superglobals, validating every field on the server, showing errors without losing what was typed, and redirect-after-POST so refresh never double-submits. 4 min
6. 6 Designing the database Three tables, two foreign keys, and the SQL to create, fill, query and change them — done in phpMyAdmin before a line of PHP touches the data. 4 min
7. 7 PHP talks to MySQL — PDO and prepared statements Connect once, in config.php; list the books; make the add form really save; and build the dashboard counts — every query through prepared statements from the first line. 4 min
8. 8 Edit, delete, search — and members Complete the book screens: an edit page that shares its validation with the add page, a delete that respects the foreign key, a search box that keeps its value, and the members screens built the same way. 4 min
9. 9 Issue and return The workflow that makes it a library and not a list: issue a book to a member with a due date, return it, list what is out, flag what is overdue — and the rules that stop bad data getting in. 4 min
10. 10 A login for the librarian A users table, passwords stored as hashes, a login page, a session that remembers who is signed in, and one line that protects every page. 3 min
11. 11 Safe and presentable See SQL injection and script injection happen in your own project, then close every door: prepared statements, escaping, server-side checks, form tokens, and errors that do not leak. Then the finishing touches that make it look done. 4 min
12. 12 The report, the viva and demo day A project report outline that matches what you built, twenty viva questions with model answers, a demo-day checklist — and where to go from here. 7 min

How it works

1. 1 · Buy once

   One payment in your own currency, no subscription. An adult buys; the account is created from the email you pay with.

2. 2 · Log in and read

   Every lesson opens in the adult's account on any device. Mark each one done and pick up where you left off.

3. 3 · Keep the Word file

   The whole course as a .docx — annotate it, print it, read it offline. Re-download it any time from your orders.

Where this course fits

1. PHP for School Projects · you are here
2. →
3. PHP Foundations
4. →
5. PHP in Practice

Questions about this course