HTML diehard ready to move on ...

bobbuilder

First post > a bit about me.

I am a self-taught designer who started designing websites about 8 years ago. Thus far I have designed exclusively using html, but have implemented ready-made scripts of various types into my sites. I would however like to design my newest project using PHP and other dynamic scripting agents so that I can feel a part of the crowd. 😃

Having just made this decision earlier today I am looking for a good NEWBIE tool possibly a wysiwyg :eek: editor that will permit me to toss a site together in php. I have researched quite a few editors and IDEs ranging from freeware upwards to 1500+ - surely not something a newb wants to invest in. 😉

I am hands-on designer; I like to learn as I go and though I am a newbie I don’t want to start echoing my html code. I have read that’s a newbie safety blanket, I figure that would be the easiest path to creating a php site; but I am willing to experiment.

... ok ok on with the show :p

If you as an experienced PHP programmer could give just one essential tip to someone just starting out what would it be?

How can a newbie avoid newbie pitfalls?

How about some recommendations as to which software I should try out?

Thanks for your time.

DisOrDeR1337

Before you start a site, you should have an idea of what you want it to do. There aren't really any wysiwug apps for php, because everything is going to be dynamic, there really isn't a need for anything but your favorite text editor. Or Dreamweaver 🙂. I dunno, good luck to you, it's going to be a long, hard, tiring, yet satisfyings road.

MrPotatoes

hey, can you tell me the 1500$ IDE? i haven't seen one that big. unless you mean .NET with the PHP plugin (can't remember the name right now).

either way my friend learned PHP from PHP.net in 11 hours and i taught myself in a few days off a few books. did all the examples like crazy. like crazy lmao.

get an EBook and you'd be all set for awhile.

getting something that will do it for you is not something you want to know. you know this, if you do that you'll never actually learn and it'll just hinder actual progress. BTW: i still echo out code but it's so much easier to a quick debug measure than anything else. it's like #if 0 and #endif in C++. so sweet lol

http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php for cheap and i had it for awhile. i loved it. now i use Active State's Komodo 3.1. mostly because it's alot like .NET and i can actually debug my code and fairly easilly too. minus one bug i'll be done with this bitch

ok, for a good beginner project i suggest installing Apache/MySQL and PHP. you can use XAMPP. i think that one is the easiest to use and install. i don't think that i've ever really had a problem with it. there is also WAMP. i hear good things about it here and other places.

then just do all the examples that you find and just add, delete and just in general fuck with it. the more errors you get and fix the better it is. that's the way that i taught myself. and i also tried to purposefully instaniate errors. but that's a moot point right now

good luck bro. it seems that everyone on here helps alot so when you get stuck search then ask (if not found or clearly explained)

bobbuilder

Thanks for the reply - I figured I'd get a RTFM response. 😃 But much like you I would rather toy around with it and learn by making mistakes. I learned HTML by ripping apart the html code of websites which had the aesthetic I liked.

I am thinking that I might be able to rip apart some ready made scripts and use the same try and die approach to teach myself php. I will check out WAMP and XAMPP and load one or the other on to a box and get to coding.

MrPotatoes

phpclasses.org

great place to get alot of free scripts minus the stupid ads and popups. it's all OOP tho. you should learn procedural first

if you need help with anything PM me and i'll give you my AIM and we can talk over that or whatever

bobbuilder

Having worked with phpbb on numerous sites I am thinking of trying to use their structure for my project. IE have the php files reference templates and those reference language files and subsequent db content. Not sure if thats the best procedure, but thats my preliminary game plan.

I got xampp set up, its working nicely, now I have to figure out how phpbb uses/calls upon the darn language files.

ekitel

I've been using Dreamweaver, it has little windows that pop up that help you with the code

in order to see what you get you have to test the code and see if it does what you want it to do

the only reason to use PHP is when you want some server controlled dynamic and/or interactive functions to happen, there's no reason to make a site in PHP if it's going to be static and could just as easily be done with plain HTML

you might start by adding some functionality to some of your existing HTML sites, instead of trying to build a whole site in PHP from scratch

rane500

First off, welcome to the fold. PHP is an easy language to dive into, and I do mean EASY. Now, having said that my first tip would be to pay attention to the "optional" good coding practices. PHP will do a lot for you if you let it, but it can make for some insecure and just plain sloppy coding habits that get tougher to shake as time goes on.

I don't even remember the first PHP book I picked up, but you can learn the basics from something like that in minutes. I am also one of the crochety programmers that feels you should work in notepad, vi, or some other raw text editor for at least a little while before you move into an IDE. (For any language) However...whenever you do reach for an IDE, I recommend Eclipse with the PHP plugin. Free, flexible, and you can plug in all sorts of other modules like database management or version control. I will say that the learning curve can be a little steep if you've never used a pure programming IDE before, but the end result is a powerful tool.

Happy coding.