Web directories are an excellent way to exchange categorized links and provide people with a way to access websites they may have otherwise not found easily on a search engine. Making your own Web directory can be exciting but also mentally exhausting, especially if you are a novice. There are two ways to have a Web directory: You can install an existing script or write one yourself.
Install or Modify an Existing Script
Installing a script is the easiest solution for creating a Web directory. There are many free Web directory scripts available. You also can also purchase a commercial script.
If you are an experienced programmer, but don't have the time to make your own Web directory from scratch, you can create a directory by modifying an existing script to fit your needs. You can add features and make new designs to some of these scripts.
Make a Web Directory From Scratch
Your also can create your own Web directory script from the ground up. However, this requires an intensive amount of work and knowledge of PHP or another Web programming language. The best way to begin writing a Web directory script is by brainstorming.
Your script should include an administrative interface for enabling or disabling any feature. You might not want to go back to the code you wrote to disable some hard-coded feature by commenting out lines. It is much easier to keep everything organized through an administrator panel that allows you to manage some of the essentials, especially if you plan allow other people to administer the directory.
Make the script simple to maintain. As your directory grows, it will also need a lot of maintenance, including cleaning up of unwanted websites and banning submission spammers. Make this process as automated as possible, so you will not have to spend your day manually cleaning up the entire directory.
If you plan to have a directory with a heavy volume of listings, don't store your listings in a file. Instead, consider using a database to keep an organized record of all your categories and websites. Databases can be a headache to learn to cope with at first, but are worth it when you want to find a listing and delete some records quickly. This goes hand-in-hand with making your directory easier to maintain.
If you are lost, there are many good tutorials available that can get you started on creating a simple database. After you understand the tutorial and the code that you write, you can start getting inventive and add more features. You can also remove some of the code and replace it with more efficient code.
