newbie mysql alert

feel free to patronise (you probably won't be anyway).

i'm brand new to sql of any form, so i'm kinda checkin out overviews.

basically we have to produce a pretty secure area on our work site as price info has leaked out (not good), i have been given the challenge of sorting it ( hey, i'm a designer, i know how to work a computer and design pretty sites, so therefore i must know how the web works...sheesh).

from what i can garner, the best way to do this is to intertwine our existing excel db of clients with mysql, then use php or cgi to administer the passwords.

fine. except i'm clueless further than that. where do i go to learn more? am i kidding myself that i can make the jump?

please advise...

The first thing would be to decide which language and which database you want to design this in...

You should also read up on some beginner articles... If you want to go with PHP and MySQL (which would be a good choice in my opinion ), you should take a look at the following articles:

PHP and MySQL: The Basics
Introductory Database Theory: Systems And Design