Small PHP things to help websites

[RSI]

Just curious here, but what are some of the small php things you'd use to enhance your website or make it more convenient somehow? I don't know much about php, I find it (and programming in general) difficult to learn. Let's say I wanted to have an image gallery on my website, and I wanted it to be handled in the best, most efficient manner possible. Would using php be ideal for this, and would it take long to get something ideal set up?

Another thing... Let's say I wanted some sort of archive, like a guitar tablature archive... how could I go about setting this up? I wish I could learn how to use php to do everything I want on my site, but I think I'm too hard-headed.

 

[gopunk]

i made a script that allows people to subscribe to a mailing list

if you want to diy, it really depends at how good you are at coding. for something like i said above, it took me a few hours, because i had to go through the documentation (new to php).

anyways, if i were you i would make a script that displays things based on contents of a directory. for both your gallery and tab archive.

 

[shawnman]

If you are looking for a gallery you have to check out http://gallery.sourceforge.net. It is absolutely amazing to say the least - and it's free too !!! It is also very easy to install and configure.

I'm not sure what kind of programming experience you have, but PHP is pretty easy to pick up.

 

[RSI]

Thanks, that's very cool. However, I have no programming experience (programming hello world in C/C++ doesn't count). I really suck at programming. I took an INTRO TO C++ course and got discouraged and gave up on it! That's how pathetic I am when it comes to coding!

But I still want to be able to do this. I hate having to rely on others, premade scripts, etc.

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: RSI
Thanks, that's very cool. However, I have no programming experience (programming hello world in C/C++ doesn't count). I really suck at programming. I took an INTRO TO C++ course and got discouraged and gave up on it! That's how pathetic I am when it comes to coding!

But I still want to be able to do this. I hate having to rely on others, premade scripts, etc.

Grab a php+mysql book somewhere. Should be a great introductory course into php world. Web programming is notably easier than regular programming, so you should be able to do whatever you like with a bit of work and some time invested.

 

[RSI]

The only problem with that is I don't have any money to buy a book. Hell, I don't even have enough money to pay for my books at school this semester. Buying a book for php is out of the question for me. I'm looking for an online source of some sort that might help me understand better, or learn easier. I'm completely clueless when it comes to programming. I don't know what has to be done to achieve certain things. Like I know what I WANT on the website but I have no idea how to make it happen using any programming languages.

 

[RSI]

I look at http://www.php.net/manual/en/ and my mind is just blank.

 

[diskop]

You probably need a tutorial more than a manual, to guide you through it first.

 

[wedi42]

i second gallery.sourceforge.com for pictures - it works great.
for more php scripts look here:http://php.resourceindex.com/

 

[RSI]

Originally posted by: diskop
You probably need a tutorial more than a manual, to guide you through it first.

Please show me the light

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: RSI

Originally posted by: diskop
You probably need a tutorial more than a manual, to guide you through it first.

Please show me the light

Here are two I just found.

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I don't know if they're any good but worth a shot

 

[RSI]

Hey, thanks for the help, I'll bookmark those. Too late at night right now. tired.

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

I use PHP on my site for content organization, etc... So there's actually one page on my site (index.php) and the content is in content.php. Pretty cool if you ask me

I was fortunate enough to have someone show me the code for their site and explain whatever I didn't understand. That's the best way to learn IMO.

 

[gopunk]

zend.com is another good resource, not their products, but their info crap... i think it's under "community" or something. one way i teach myself stuff is to look at sample code a lot, and make tiny changes to see what it does.