I'm setting up a simple content management site, and I have a question
about my database layout. I am trying to manage different areas of the
site that are somewhat similar.
I have decided to use a tbl_dates to store information about the date
the record should go live and when it should expire. One of the tables
is tbl_press to store press release information, another is tbl_main to
store content for the main page of the site, and tbl_mike to store
information for my editorials page.
If some of the tables share common fields, is it better to store all
those common fields in a separate table, or is better to keep them with
the table in which they are pertinent. Right now, only the tbl_main
needs to store image name information, but other tables may eventually
store that data also. There are likely to be other fields that may be
common to 2 of the 3 or perhaps to some of the eventual larger number
of tables. It makes sense to centralize it in one table for the
purpose of easy updating of the field name or whatever in the future
... not having to make the change in several tables. However, it makes
it necessary to joins all the time, and it seems quicker to just avoid
that.
