Saturday, August 27, 2011

Web 2.0, an Era of Dynamic Webpages, PHP & MySQL to Meet the Requirements of Web 2.0


Few years back it was era of Web 1.0, when most of websites only had static information and less user interactivity. In fact user interactivity was limited to just contact and feedback forms which were able to just send feedback or contact the owner of website and all information submitted by contact and feedback forms was being delivered to owner via email in his/her mailbox.

But in recent years with advancement of technology this trend started changing and more people started incorporating some user interactivity in websites. This new trend of user interactivity got popular in very less time and finally it came the time when now no one likes a static website. Now every website on internet to popular it needs to be user interactive. So now this new era of user interactive websites is called Web 2.0.

Also another change over time was that unlike past now every company which exists in real world, have to make its appearance on internet to reach its all potential buyers. As e-commerce is already very popular and people are already making millions with online business. So it is not only very important to launch online version of your business but it is also important that the website you use for your online business is a dynamic user interactive website which fully comply with Web 2.0

In order to develop dynamic websites many technologies and platforms can be used which include ASP .Net, MS SQL, PHP, MySQL and many other related technologies. But as web Programming Language PHP and database MySQL are free(open source) so they are much more popular as well as secure. Most of latest work is being done in these two technologies, which are also very much easy to get started.

So if your know developing static web pages via HTML or using some tools now its time to jump into dynamic web applications. In order to start learning PHP and MySQL you can use following resource websites which have tutorials which will guide you to first setup the PHP and MySQL and then getting started with it.

- W3Schools.com - Tutorials of PHP and MySQL both.

- php.net - Tutorials Only for PHP, from installation to getting started and learning advance PHP

- MySQL.com - official website of MySQL, contains lots lots of info about MySQL

In addition to these you will find millions of resources online which can help you in learning PHP and MySQL, so you can just search with keywords PHP and MySQL in Google to get lots of helping material.




Also I personally run a PHP and related technologies blog which facilitates with lots of coding tips, tricks and amazing scripts with full explanations to learn. This blog contains lots of information for beginners as well as advanced PHP developers. If you want to checkout lots of amazing stuff just visit [http://codingtricks.blogspot.com]

Anyone can republish this article but only if you agree to not remove the blog which is located in above paragraph.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ask Web Hosting Company Before You Buy


Before you actually buying web hosting plan you'll have question, is this web hosting I want to host my website? If you look around hosting company web site there are always not enough information. So asking them is better than going with hesitation. This example I made to ask hosting company support center by e-mail.

Dear {hosting company name},

I am interesting with web hosting solution offered in your web site. I have a site that need hosting, my site is forum web site based on PHP, One MySQL Database, and a lot of images. I found one of your hosting plan which is {name of hosting plan}

suit my needs. I just need to ask some question to make me sure choosing your hosting plan.

What payment options are available? What is the options for payment period?

Is there a trial period or money-back guarantee?

Is that price included setup fee?

Is there discount price for that plan?

What is the options to upgrade?

What is server specs for that plan?

Will I have my own IP address or is it shared?

What type of support do you offer? Email? Phone? Public? Hours? Limit? Average Response Time?

Will I have shell account?

What are control panel features to manage my web site?

How long will it take, from the time I submit my order, for me to have access to the site and begin developing?

etc.

Please feel free to explain anything you think I might have missed. Let me know of any reason you would be suitable or unsuited for my site.




Visit Hosting-101 Blog for more guide.


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Useful MySQL Commands For PHP Development


When I'm developing PHP applications I normally have a DOS window open so I can run SQL scripts from the command line. Often, this is so I can check that MySQL database tables are being updated correctly while I am running PHP scripts.

There are not that many command line tasks I need to perform, but it is useful to be able to run them as and when I need to. In this tutorial I'll look at a few MySQL commands I find really useful during the development of PHP applications.

Logging onto the MySQL monitor

To log onto the MySQL monitor:


Open a command prompt window, and navigate to the the mysql\bin folder.

Run the command:

mysql

OR

mysql -u user -p

If prompted, enter the password for the database user.

Setting a root password

If you have not got a root password set, here is how you set one.


Log onto the MySQL monitor as described above.

Run the command:

set password for root@localhost=password('password');

Updating a table

I quite often need to add or delete new columns, or modify existing ones.

To perform the following commands you need to be logged onto the MySQL monitor, as described above.

Adding a new column

The format is:

ALTER table tablename

ADD new_column type

AFTER column;

And here are a couple of examples:

ALTER table users

ADD surname char(30)

AFTER firstname;

ALTER table users

ADD age int (2) NOT NULL default '0'

AFTER surname;

Modifying an existing column

Sometimes it is necessary to update existing columns; here is the format:ALTER table tablename

MODIFY column type;

And here's an example:

ALTER table users

MODIFY age int (3) NOT NULL default '0';

Dropping a column

Here's the format:ALTER table tablename

DROP column;

And here's an example:

ALTER table users

DROP age;

Dumping the contents of a database into an SQL file

For backup purposes, if nothing else, it's sometimes useful to dump all the contents of a database into an SQL file. Here's how you do it:


Open a command prompt window, and navigate to the the mysql\bin folder.

Run the command:

mysqldump -u database_user_name -p database_name > database_name.sql

When prompted, enter the password for the database user.

Sending the output from an SQL query to a file

Sometimes it is useful to send the output from a query to a file, for example, a text file. Here is an example of how to do it.


Log onto the MySQL monitor.

Run the SQL query, for example:

SELECT name,surname FROM users into outfile '/tmp/users.txt';




About the Author: John Dixon is a web developer working through his own company John Dixon Technology Limited. The company also develops and supplies a free accounting bookkeeping software tool called Earnings Tracker. The company's web site contains various articles, tutorials, news feeds, and a finance and business blog.


Monday, August 15, 2011

How to Learn PHP Quickly


One of the elements that separate professional websites from, although well designed, but amateur websites, is the backend code, unseen by most visitors. Programming code that runs in the background, and handles the functions of other professional sites, allowing to mail forms, logins, and other functions, controlled by programming scripts such as PHP, and JavaScript. Knowing how to utilize these tools and customize them to function within your site to function as you need them to.

Why Learn PHP?

The internet is full of freelance programmers who will be more than willing to create custom code for your sites, the only problem, is that you'll be hiring a stranger with no long-term interest in your site or it's future. By obtaining even a basic level of PHP, it's functions and how it works, you can not only save your site from potentially exposing your site's security and it's stability, but also level the playing field by gaining the knowledge of how to customize and enhance most aspects of your site, for yourself.

How Useful Is PHP

By being able to collect valuable data, run calculations and asses valuable other bits of data, PHP can become an integral and vital component to any webpage. While similar to HTML in some aspects, including is flexibility for creating pages as well as their content, creating simple, small fragments of code, when assembled, can allow multiple changes, across multiple pages or sites with simple and timely changes. Similar to how CSS pages can control content and layout of sites, PHP code can not only allow fast and sweeping changes to a site's layout or content, but it can also add new levels of functionality and customization that other HTML and other markup languages simply can't match.

What Do You Need to Learn?

Similar to other web languages, PHP requires no special tools or programs to be properly coded, instead simply a simple text editor is your most powerful tool. Some other tools available will warn you if and when your syntax is off or help you code by prompting for values or functions, but for the type of scripts needed for most web based applications, a simple text editor, such as notepad, is more than enough.

How To Get Started Learning

Being the second most popular web language, right behind HTML, PHP is not difficult to learn, nor find many training sites to start with. The only problem, is that most of the web based content found for free is either confusing, contradictory or assumes you have an acquired level of knowledge before starting. It is usually best to invest a little in your training, and get access to a fully serviced and professionally maintained service. Offering video tutorials, training packages and other testing options to make sure that you are progressing in your programming skills, are a key factor.




Finding good training is a challenge even in the best circumstances, so to help clear away some confusion and get you started in the right direction, you may want to visit PhP Training Blog to find some truly professional and reliable training sources.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

It Makes Sense To Learn PHP If You Own A Website


PHP (an acronym for Hypertext Preprocessor) is a free server-side web programming language that is used by millions of websites on the internet. PHP allows websites to be dynamic and provides a host of useful features thus providing website visitors with a better user experience.

Internet users are much more sophisticated that they were years ago and expect to see dynamic features on websites they visit.

Advantages of using PHP


PHP is free of any cost, freely available and most hosts provide PHP as part of the hosting package. If PHP is part of the package, then it is already installed, fully functional and available to be used.
PHP's processing speed is quite impressive and this results in quicker navigation and page load times.
PHP is one of the simplest programming languages to learn and there are numerous helpful sites, forums and tutorials available on the internet.
PHP can be learnt piece by piece or objective specific so that there is no need to master an entire PHP course.
PHP interacts well with servers and databases.
Provided it is done correctly, PHP can provide a great deal of security to your site.

You should learn PHP

Learning PHP is easy and fun and will give you a greater insight and understanding on how websites and the internet work. There's a huge thrill in putting up some code done by yourself and seeing it work in action.

Most website owners leave the programming to an external programmer. Whilst this might make sense, it involves a great deal of unnecessary costs as programmers' fees are usually high and most charge by the hour. If you start learning PHP yourself, you can start doing small scripts or changes yourself and thereby saving some money. As you get more proficient, you can do bigger things with PHP at absolutely zero cost.

Initiating changes and additions are less time consuming and can be done quickly if you program yourself. As the internet and websites are constantly evolving, there will always be a situation where you will need to make some quick changes to your code. Having a programmer do it might create time delays.

PHP allows you to do lots of fun things on your site and it is quite possible to invent a unique site that provides a unique function or service that nobody else has or has thought about. This uniqueness can be your Unique Selling Proposition that can catapult you and your site to great success.




Mark Hicks is a PHP programmer who also teaches people how to use PHP on their sites. You are welcome to access free php training tutorials on: http://www.toknowmore.net/e/1/php/


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Principles in Design of PHP Contact Forms


PHP contact forms are a popular way for webmasters and businesses to get valuable feedback from their readers or clients. For a business, it can mean saving money or getting suggestions on how to improve the current business model. For webmasters, it opens a door to a new means of interaction with visitors.

A PHP contact form should be accessible to anyone- so do watch usage of JavaScript or AJAX. Not every browser will support these technologies, which could effectively render your contact form useless. There are certain methods of "gracefully degrading" your contact form- but do know that it will take a lot of extra work in allowing both sides of the fence to make use of your form.

Do be sure to include some sort of form validation in the script so that you are better able to spot out problems before they occur. Notifying the user that they forgot to type in their email address, for instance, can be valuable in getting into contact with whoever wishes to contact you. This can also help you enforce users to give their names, so that you may address them politely in your reply.

A contact form should also be secure- so try to keep it safe from hackers or spammers. One method in keeping your PHP contact form safe from harm is to include what is called a "Captcha." This device will create an image of numbers, letters, or objects. Visitors then type this information in for verification, so that they prove that they are human and not just another spam robot.

Extra security tactics may include logging the IP address of the one submitting the feedback. This is not only helpful to help track down malicious users, but can also help businesses to track demographics of those submitting the form. By using geography software, one can easily find out where the visitor comes from only by looking at their IP address. This may help in building demographics information.

Remember to keep things simple with your PHP contact form. This will allow you to get in direct contact with your customers without troubling them with technologies their browsers don't support, or difficult anti-spam techniques that only frustrate human users. It is best to look around at your favorite websites and see what kind of contact forms they offer their visitors- and take your inspiration from several sources.

Closing Comments

If you aren't sure on how to code a PHP contact form, you should be able to find a wealth of code via different search engines. There are many code examples to choose from, both for beginners and experts alike, depending on what you need to accomplish.




Learn more about php contact form and learn php.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Google AdSense Tutorial - Increase Your AdSense Income Today By Using The Right URI's


Sometimes, even the smallest changes can result in great differences, and in this Google AdSense tutorial, I'll convey one such experience I had with my own site. I changed the URI's, and you'll learn both what a URI is, and how you can change it.

What Is A URI?

The acronym URI stands for "Uniform Resource Identifier", and it's what you know as an Internet address. When you visit a website, you'll see it's URI in your browsers address bar. You'll notice that it consists of the protocol (either http, ftp, https or something like that), followed by a colon and two slashes and the domain name with its extension and maybe even the file name.

This would be an example of a URI: http: // domain.com/folder/file_name.html

However, if the URI contains strange characters like & and?, it's bad both for SEO and making an income with AdSense. That's why you have to use a URI that looks like a static address instead of looking like a dynamic URI, created on the fly with PHP or ASP.

How Do You Change Your URI?

If you've programmed your site yourself with PHP, you'll have to check how to make your URI's look like static URI's. This depends on your web host, and there are several ways of doing it. However, if you're using a blog like WordPress, you can easily change your URI by going into your Dashboard, and choose 'Permalinks' in the 'Settings' menu.

I recommend that you avoid the default link which will show a number, and go with the name inside the URI instead. Personally, I use this code: /%post_id%/%postname%/ since it includes the post name, but also gives me a handy way of shortening the link, by just using its post id, when I want to use Twitter or another service to link to my blog post.

What Will This Change Mean To You?

One of my sites had dynamic links, which I had made look like static links, but they still just included a number instead of the name of the article. The URI's looked like this:

website.com/tip/345

When I changed them into containing the headline of the tip in question, instead of showing a number, I saw immediate changes in my revenue. I did that easily, using the existing database, but instead of showing the ID in the URI, I chose the headline, and I added underscores instead of spaces.

My AdSense income more than ten doubled, after this tiny change.

By implementing just this one thing from this Google AdSense tutorial, you will be able to see an immediate change in your income.




Actually, I'm convinced that you can learn a lot from my own experience. I started out in a foreign country, not knowing the language and, just by working two hours per day on one specific domain, I designed a home page that earns me well over $1,000 per month on autopilot.

You can copy my system, and receive a myriad of money making ideas when you obtain my exact blueprint of "How I went from Zero to More Than $1,000 Per Month" for free at => http://getmoneymakingideas.com/free.html