web applications tend to have a admin panel?

Question

i wonder if large web applications like twitter and facebook have admin panels to handle CRUD for users, posts, images, themes and so on just like in CMS like drupal?

so programmers have to code the front for the regular users AND back for the administrators?

if i develop an web application is it recommended that i also code the admin part? or is it unnecessary since i can handle it all directly in mysql and by editing php scripts directly?

share your thoughts!

thanks

Answer 1

This question is almost too open-ended to be answered here. But from my experience, most web applications of any scale need administrative capabilities, and a lot more than just basic CRUD, in the sense that there may be business logic that applies to how fields may be updated, and records may have interdependencies. As a web application developer, you are often responsible for both the front-end functionality and any administrative interface as well. If anyone other than a web technologist (ie, someone who CAN just jump into the SQL and PHP) needs to make updates, you'll quickly find that admin interfaces become an essential part of the site, not just a nice-to-have.

Answer 2

If you have particular admin functions which are separate from general functionality, then you ought to provide one. Dealing directly with the database and scripts is a pain, and prone to mistakes. Many web frameworks, however, will automatically generate rudimentary admin functions, which makes the task of providing a complete set much easier.

Answer 3

You'll usually need an administrative interface for your web application unless you or another user with coding/database/SQL expertise handles the actual administration of the web application.

Usually the appointed administrator of the web application would prefer to use an administrative interface simply because it's faster and less error-prone to update the database/content through it. Not all administrators possess the necessary skills or time to interact at the database or code level of the application when the site needs updating.