PHP parses the php.ini file for the global PHP settings, but you can create an INI file that is specific to your own PHP application. You can also load those settings into as associate array with a native PHP function. How cool is that?

One of the biggest pet peeves I have when looking at (and unfortunately - working with) other people’s PHP code is the way they integrate their code into the HTML. Many people don’t take the time to organize, and they end up with a PHP & HTML mess. I believe that it is [...]

AJAX is all over the internet today, and though completely unnecessary, a website with it can function much more quickly. Data can be transferred to and from users efficiently, but a major drawback is the extra code needed and some security issues inherent. Nevertheless, for certain applications, AJAX is great to know and [...]

I covered how to Parse Weather Forecast Data (from the NDFD) in PHP in a previous article, but due to the amount of questions I received, I decided to show some more usage techniques and examples. In this article, I will cover the time-series option as well as some methods on how to make [...]

In a previous article, I covered 5 Sources of Free Weather Data for your Site, but did not provide any actual code to use the data. Last week, I covered source #1 and showed how to Parse Weather Forecast Data (from the NDFD) in PHP. For this article, I will show how to [...]

Regular expressions seem rather complex, even like a foreign language to beginning programmers. The mixture of symbols and characters can bring you to tears if you have a limited understanding, but with the knowledge of the significance of each symbol and construct, regular expressions can bring you from irregularity to peaceful contention bliss.

In a previous article, I covered 5 Sources of Free Weather Data for your Site, but did not provide any actual code to use the data. Starting with this article, I will post instructions on how to handle this data as well as sample code. For this article, we will start with the [...]

Using databases to store user identification, image information, and so much more for dynamic websites is the easiest way to ease maintenance. MySQL is the most popular choice of database, and in this article, I’ll explain the most basic functions: connecting and using a MySQL database and its respective tables.

When you visit a site, their usual advertisers might catch your eye once or twice, but after that, you forget it’s there. Designing a banner ad that automatically updates with information such as current sales or latest blog posts is a great way to get repeat clicks and return visitors. In this article, [...]

Sometimes a complex PHP-built website can become tedious when dealing with minor changes to the template and HTML markup. Changing, for instance, a set of links (navigation) or other integral parts of a website, can become quite the lengthy process. In this article, I’ll share a technique that I sometimes use to make something as simple as a website navigation a little more automated using an explosive function.