I want to build a site that allows user to get filtered subsets of some information I have stored on a database. The information will change frequently and I will want to create a post every now and again to say when new information or features become available, so the site has CMS aspects and web app aspects.
Coming from a desktop programming environment, I have to admit I’m not entirely certain how far a CMS like Drupal or WordPress can take me. The web app would basically be a form with several interdependent options and a Submit button. When the Submit button is clicked, I would want to call a web service that returns the information in one of a variety of formats.
So will I need to install my CMS and have an iframe or just a link to the web app which is developed completely outside of it, or can I build my web app’s front end directly in the CMS (and hopefully achieve a nice, integrated look) and just have it call the service behind a button?
I half-expect that this web app would become a WordPress/Drupal plugin, or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Yes you can do this. Try out jquery, I think is already included (at leas in wordpress). “Break into” the layot part add js file of your own that makes an AJAX call to a url and returns some HTML from there and puts that content into a certain HTML component (a div that you also add there by your self with a certain id).
User clicks a button, triggers the ajax call and voila.
There are also complicated ways like developing your own plugin that makes SOAPCalls and integrated with the wordpress/drupal etc. But as you say that you are a desktop developer this is the closest aproach to you knwoledge and perspective.
AJAX LOAD WITH JQUERY