Providing bookkeeping & payroll services, typesetting and website & database design since 1990.
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Custom Database for Land Trusts 1
The Problem
The Hilltown Land Trust wanted to replace their paper system for land monitoring with a database. They approached me about creating a system in FileMaker, but I suggested an online ('cloud') php/MySql system instead. There were several reasons for this:
- At the time, they were staffed completely by volunteers and had no central office. Ideally, whatever they created would be accessible from multiple locations, and could be used by people on variety of computers and operating systems. A web-based solution would be ideal, but FileMaker, Access and other proprietary database software have special hosting requirements.
- Even if they did eventually have a central office, it was hoped that new information could be added in the field. If someone was writing up a property report, it would be better if they could enter data while they were at the property (or at the local coffee shop immediately upon leaving the property), instead of waiting until they went to the office the next day.
- With a limited budget, it would have been difficult for them to purchase software licenses or updates as operating systems and versions changed, in addition to updating the database code. It made more sense to create a system that would let them focus their resources on database improvements, and not divide it by the need to purchase new software or hardware on a regular basis. Although they were seeking grant funding for part of the development work, ongoing updates and maintenance would need to come out of their budget.
- Intially they wanted this developed in FileMaker. However, at least one new version of FileMaker had been largely incompatible with previous versions, requiring people to completely re-do their databases and user interfaces. Since then, I’ve been very cautious about developing in FileMaker.
- They were interested in creating a cross-platform system with user-configurable options that could be used by other small land trusts. Ideally, it would not have any special hardware or software requirements and be reasonably easy to modify, based on the needs of an organization.
Creating the system in php/MySql solved all these issues. A web-based system doesn’t require a centralized office, specialized software, or an in-house server. It can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection by people using their personal computers, running a variety of operating systems. Using php/MySql also meant there were no special hosting requirements; it is included in even the most inexpensive hosting packages. If an organization wanted to run their database offline, open-source software such as MAMP (Mac, Apache, MySQL, PHP) or WAMPServer (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) allow them to set up a virtual webserver on an in-house network.
If it was written in a modular fashion, such a system could also accomodate user-contributed code, letting it expand and grow over time, similar to the way WordPress is able to interact with user-contributed plugins.