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Learning PHP [06/04/2008]

I’ve begun learning PHP! Well to start with it does seem a bit like Javascript in writing functions and creating arrays and such but it is much more powerful and you can do a whole lot more as you developers out there will know. And you don’t need to worry about browser compatibility etc, brilliant!

So far without learning databases and connectivity with them, I’ve been looking at creating templates, like header and footer files and then each individual page is simply the main content area with a single header and footer file included. For such things as seo people might say that is not good as every page will have the same titles and descriptions but this is no the case. Using these handy variables, each page can still have its own title. There really are many benefits to working this way like adding new menu items, or changing the menu, you just need to change one file.

Some other things I’ve been using PHP for is to create a slideshow [opens new window] which can be automatic or manual, and then there is an image gallery [opens new window] which enlarges the image using just css. Basically the thumbnails are created from drawing all the images in from one folder, put into an array and them display how ever you like. For this gallery I’ve decided to use css to enlarge the actually image which with the method I’ve used in this example is currently not compatible with IE6 on windows.

My greatest achievement so far with learning PHP has to be the alternative to the LightBox Javascript [opens new window], although not as flashy as its Javascript counterpart it does the same job and you do not need to worry about compatibility issues etc... read full article