# Recreate a CMS from PHP

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recreate-a-cms-from-php/95243>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [May 25, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recreate-a-cms-from-php/95243 "2006-05-25T12:20:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recreate-a-cms-from-php/95243/1 "2006-05-25T12:20:08Z")

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I’ve built a kind of cms in php, and I wonder if someone could give me  
some hints on how to do this in RoR. Doesn’t have to be much, just so I  
can get an idea of what I should learn and tackle as a new user of both  
Ruby and RoR.

The system is built with a core of users and on that different modules.  
Users are given access depending on what user group they belong to, and  
from the other end an administrator can assign the different parts of a  
module a group name. Normal and straight forward. I also have a language  
file connecting variables with the particular word of the selected  
language in each module with variables in the files. A greeting on the  
first page is then given in the language the user has assigned. So the  
system is based on modules that can act separate from each-other.

The main interface is a page where you have a top and a menu on the left  
and content in the center. It’s the same in each module. The first  
concern is the menu that checks what module it’s in and what to show  
depending on the user group and language ( You can always reach the  
different modules in the same menu). How can I use RoR to make that menu  
as an object that I can include in every page but still be always the  
same? Do I make a class of my own or method or what?

I bought the book “Agile Web D. with Rails” and try to learn in  
the same time. But a few hints would be great. For example; my current  
db has table names like “adm\_users” (mysql). Can I still use that, or  
what about this thing with model name and table names in plural?

Sorry for a long and complex question, but I’m eager to get started and  
want to get into the right direction as soon as possible. I started to  
learn Ruby and it seems easy and rather fast to learn. Ror is more  
complex to me.

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**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/recreate-a-cms-from-php/95243/2 "2007-05-24T01:53:04Z")

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First Review Your database schema  
Second create your migrations and models for this schema  
Third provide any desired login so you can interact normally with the  
application  
Fourth think what do I want to get or be able to do on this page and  
then implement your controller/view

HTTP is stateless so what page your on should not affect what page your  
going to except by what ever you have in the…  
-URL  
-SESSION  
-COOKIES

use inbuilt tests so you can seed these and avoid breaking anything down  
the road.

Now go build and think what can I do better next time