Functions are used to perform a well defined task that is normally repeated at various places within a web site, web application, or other software application. The function sometimes needs certain information before performing its task, and sometimes returns a value to the calling page or program.

An example of how to use a simple function in PHP:

 function showMessage() {
echo "{$_SESSION["message"]}"; }

The above example shows a very simple function that displays the contents of a session variable called 'message'. The idea being that while a user is using a web site, etc, various messages are generated and stored in the 'message' session variable. Whenever the showMessage function is called, the contents of the session variable are displayed. So, for example, when the user logs on, you could display a message saying that they have done so. Likewise, when they log off, a different message could be displayed.

Calling a function

To call the showMessage function, you would just need to include the line:

showMessage()

in the web page (wrapped in php tags to distinguish it from normall HTML).

Passing values to a function

Often, a function requires one or more input values in order to perform its task. For example, take the following example that takes two numbers as input, and adds them together. The result is then returned to the calling web page or program.

function addNumbers($number1,$number2) {
$answer = $number1 + $number2;
return $answer; }

In the calling program we would have something similar to the following:

$number1 = "5";
$number2 = "6";
$sumOfNumbers = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$sumOfNumbers";

Obviously, in a real program you would not have the numbers hardcoded like this, but they would be obtained from user input or by some other means. Notice also that although the name of the returned variable is $answer, the calling program makes no reference to that. We could, if we wanted to, change the calling program to:

$answer = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$answer";

which might make things slightly easier to understand.

Web design for a competitive business isn't easy, especially when you add e-commerce (the buzzword for buying and selling online) to the mix. Thankfully, many service providers have basic web hosting templates available to their customers at little to no cost depending on your package. More complex templates can be quite expensive. Companies that provide hosting with templates make setting up and maintaining an e-commerce website possible for people without the expertise to do it themselves and without the money to hire a professional to design their site from the ground up.

When purchased separately from your web hosting package, a template can run anywhere from $20 for a basic, simple web template and well into the hundreds of dollars for a more complex, custom design. For the majority of small business owners, basic templates designed for businesses are usually a safe bet.

An e-commerce template may include basic pages, search and navigation tools such as a virtual shopping cart, but it will be up to you to find your own online payment processing - most often through a third party provider such as PayPal. A web search for "online payment processing" will provide you with several options.

As an alternative, you might want to consider a turnkey solution such as eBay Stores or Yahoo! The designs of sites like these make e-commerce solutions for small business accessible to everyone. Be sure to read the find print about transaction fees and other costs before you decide.

Questions to Ask about Functionality

1. Does the shopping cart accept debit cards and online checks?
2. Is there a limit to the number of products, services or categories you can set up?
3. Does the site offer automatic notification of orders and transactions?

Questions to Ask about Cost

1. What are the basic monthly fees?
2. Are fees charged on a per transaction basis?
3. Is there a setup fee? If so, what is it?
4. How are taxes handled?

Talk to other business owners about their choices and do your homework. The right solution is out there for you, you just have to be willing to do what it takes to find it!

The key element to your success is you. It is what you do today that will determine whether you succeed or fail. Beyond that it comes down to consistency. It's what you do every day that will bring results. Sporadic efforts here and there will not yield success long term.

So your first objective is to figure out what you are going to build a site around. Write down your interests and various topics that may be relative to those interests. Once you have a list then its time to start researching.

The key to effective research is focus. Focus can be achieved by understanding what your objectives are and what can help you achieve those objectives. As you know you need traffic to your site to have any hope of making money. No traffic means no money.

So you will need to research markets that have a high level of activity online. The ideal scenario is to find keywords that get searched a lot and have little competition. With that said you have to be careful.

Competition in actual fact is good because it means that there is money to be made in that market. So what you need to do is find ways to enter the market using less competitive keywords yet still be able to generate income relative to the main keyword.

For example with weight loss there are many ways to enter that market without going after the main keyword. Example; lose belly fat, or lose weight by eating healthy foods and so on. I think you get the idea.

Once you have the keywords that you can compete with you will then need to build your site using each keyword to build a page around. You will need to structure your web pages so that you get the right keyword density.

To conclude there are lots of site builders out there to help you with this. The one I had the most success with was site build it. They cover all of the above and also take care of the hosting. This way all you have to do is engage in your passion.