I'd consider teaching them how to use SQL directly.

I've done it at LibraryThing. I take employees from the simplest
SELECTs all the way to a people-who-have-X-also-have-Y self-join in
one long hands-on lesson. It doubles as a sort of test, and I've even
used it in hiring. LibraryThing's two full-time librarians got there
with flying colors; I've had programmers who stumbled. (Not
surprisingly they didn't work out.) Once someone understands SQL
itself, you can throw a helper, like PMA, at them too.

I think there's a real opportunity for empowerment here. Teach a man
to SELECT and he'll never have to, um, fish again.

Tim

On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 9:58 AM, Tim McGeary <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I use Webmin.  http://www.webmin.com/
> It gives me a GUI for all of my vital sysadmin needs that I can't remember
> how to do at the shell.
>
> It has a MySQL GUI interface that works very well.  And you can setup user
> accounts to have access to certain parts of Webmin, like just MySQL.
>
> Easy RPM install, and inside Webmin is an app to upgrade itself.  Can also
> install Perl modules, edit your php.ini file, etc.
>
> Cheers,
> Tim
>
> Tim McGeary
> Senior Systems Specialist
> Lehigh University
> 610-758-4998
> [log in to unmask]
> Google Talk: timmcgeary
> Yahoo IM: timmcgeary
>
> Ken Irwin wrote:
>>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I have some straightforward MySQL data tables that I would like to be
>> editable by some of my less-techy colleagues. I tend to think of phpMyAdmin
>> as a perfectly serviceable and reasonably interface for updating database
>> tables, but I'm told that it's kind of intimidating to the uninitiated.
>>
>> Are there alternatives that are meant for non-admin-types? I'd want
>> something with read/write permissions, but that could be targeted at just a
>> few tables, wouldn't have any of the more potent tools (drop, empty, etc.).
>> In the ideal world, I might like something that would prevent users from
>> doing things like accidentally changing primary key data and things like
>> that.
>>
>> I've thought about writing something, but I suspect that would be
>> reinventing the wheel. Any ideas?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Ken
>>
>



-- 
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