Building pages from databases

[htchmn]

I'm part way through redesigning a 60 page website and I'm realising that it consists of a small number of page layouts each populated with similar data.

As I've got more experience in database design than I have in web design, I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't be doing this a little smarter. Could I use CSS to set up some divs on pages representing each layout, then populate those divs with data from a database?

As a newbie, what's the best way to approach this? I'm most comfortable with MS Access and Frontpage, by the way. Frontpage provides a basic facility along these lines, but I need something with more flexible layout options than cells in a table.

[benihana]

then populate those divs with data from a database?

Absolutely. :)

You will need a server side scripting language to act as a 'middle man', i.e. when a page is requested, the script will query the database and construct the dynamic parts of the page before returning it to the browser.

PHP scripting with a mysql database is a very popular combination for this, but as your using access you may want to look at ASP.

good luck

[htchmn]

Thanks for your comment. I'm exploring ASP.NET to use with an Access database serving CSS-heavy pages. It's a learning process! So far I've found books on ASP.NET that discuss gathering/displaying conventional data, but nothing that really goes the step beyond to steer me through the use of ASP.NET to serve up pages with lots of text, pictures, etc. Can anyone suggest a good book / website / other resource?