I have the opportunity to design and build a website for a small blind manufacturer. They would like the customer to be able to enter in a width and length and type of blinds and get back a price.

I'm fairly well versed in HTML (and graphics for that matter) but am unsure which direction to proceed in. I know there is Cold Fusion, PHP, Access for data base sites but am not sure if data base is really the right term for what I need.

Can someone give me a little friendly advice and a direction to head in. I'm a quick learner, self taught in many programs, so I think I can tackle this but I need to research it more before I commit.

Thanks.

justagrrl -- What your customer wants to do depends a lot on various factors, including things like budget, and expertise. If you are familiar with SQL, you can set something up as cheaply as "free" (the software, that is) using MySQL. If they want to spend a lot of money, they can purchase a commercial version from Oracle, Microsoft, or Sybase, but it will be very expensive, and you can't just go to CompUSA to buy a box of the software.

Probably my best recommendation is that you consider looking into FileMaker Pro. They have a full GUI interface, it's now completely relational, it has a full Web interface and up-to-the-minute updating (from database to Web page), and best of all, it's very intuitive and has a lower learning curve than most other database applications. And it doesn't cost too much.

The advantage of using a database is that the customers can input the information once, and the data is already stored in your database. You can use Web forms and PHP, but you will need the additional step of moving their data into a database, assuming you maintain such a thing (I'd think so).

Probably my best recommendation is that you consider looking into FileMaker Pro. They have a full GUI interface, it's now completely relational, it has a full Web interface and up-to-the-minute updating (from database to Web page), and best of all, it's very intuitive and has a lower learning curve than most other database applications. And it doesn't cost too much. Lani, does FileMaker Pro include support for content databases or just database-driven HTML? I'm still trying to find a useable solution to the problem I posted about last month, about setting up a site with a large gallery of images.

I don't think FMP is a content-management system. But if you're interested in a photo gallery, my recommendation is the free Gallery Project (http://gallery.menalto.com/) but it requires knowledge of PHP and your own server.

it requires knowledge of PHP and your own server.
Those, I have. The only thing I don't have is telnet access to the server (see my "It's That Time Again" thread). Hopefully this package does not require it.