Refresher, learning after time away

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Permalink Reply by Evan Burke on November 3, 2009 at 4:35pm

Well PHP is a Hypertext Pre-Processor (meaning it performs operations on the server-side, prior to a user being served up some good old fashioned HTML). PHP works together with HTML, adding functionality that can't be performed as easily on the client-side (like querying a database).

I would suggest learning PHP & MySQL, CSS, and brush up on what it means to write a standards compliant XHTML website (it's not that hard).

You'll also probably want to get a handle on XML and RSS. Both are fairly simple and will remind you of HTML.

These days, you'll also need to be more Javascript-savvy than in days past. I'd suggest taking a look at libraries like jQuery and Prototype. From simple animations, toggling visibility of DIVs, to more complex operations, they'll take a lot of the work out of writing Javascript and allow you to add more functionality to your pages, quicker.

And to build on that, you'll want to investigate AJAX, which can utilize Javascript and XML (among other languages and protocols) to make calls to a server. The basic advantage is that a user gets updated information without needing to refresh the whole page, or go to a new page. For instance, search results can be displayed in "real time", you can check to see if a username is already chosen during a registration process, or simply serve content as the user requests it (they click on something) without refreshing the page and disrupting the experience.

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Permalink Reply by Evan Burke on November 3, 2009 at 4:40pm

Also, regarding Joolma: It *can* produce cookie-cutter results, but you have to be able to tweak and customize it. And that extra-effort is definitely worth it. Clients always want to be able to update their sites, and it's a good thing to be able to give them a CMS that can let them tackle the changes themselves, rather than lengthy back-and-forth changes and revisions that can last forever.

I recently built a site using an online CMS called CushyCMS (also try SimpleCMS). The main advantage of an online CMS being it's incredibly simple to setup (no PHP & MySQL installs on the server, no constantly updating security and bug patches). All you do is create a username and password, and it's ready.

It's also incredibly easy to configure, since you can take your existing HTML layouts and make them editable with minimal effort. Simply insert an appropriate class="cushcms" around the DIVs, IMGs, and anything else you want to allow the client to edit. This reduces the risk of the layout or something else getting broken, and simplifies the editing process for the client by deciding before hand what is (and isn't) important to edit and update.

The tagging methodology lets you build sites as you normally would -- with plain old HTML & CSS -- outside the limitations and constraints of a traditional CMS. Once you're done building, tag what you want to tag, and you're done.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Severance on November 3, 2009 at 4:52pm

Hello,
I think you could ask this question to 10 different developers that all specialize in different areas and they would all tell you that their way is the best. I would find a platform that you are most comfortable in and then start putting in the hours. There is no quick way and there will always be something new to learn so you will never run out of material to read. Our company focuses primarily on .Net, Silverlight and WCF platforms. A case can be made for any of the different solutions so it is up to you. Joomla seems to be the up and coming CMS solution with some nice bells and whistles. We are building our own to complete in the near future.

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Permalink Reply by Evan Burke on November 3, 2009 at 4:57pm

I'll throw three more things on your plate:

1)Get up to speed with WordPress, a blog CMS. It's a fairly common client request to want a blog on their site. It can be a good way to make sites successful through the exposure a blog brings. WordPress is fairly popular (meaning a client might ask for it by name) and also has a huge community that can provide support or build cool add-ons and plugins.

2) Look into some of the off-the-shelf shopping cart solutions. Some popular ones include:
- FoxyCart : http://www.foxycart.com/
- SimpleCart : http://simplecartjs.com/
- Google Checkout : http://storegadget.googlelabs.com/
- WP E-commerce : http://www.instinct.co.nz/e-commerce/
- ZenCart (not my preference, but it's popular): http://www.zen-cart.com/

Paypal also has some very simple, quick, and easy ways to add a "Buy Now" button to websites. Worth looking into for smaller clients.

3) Learn about SEO (Search engine optimization) and what it takes to increase a sites rankings and visibility to search engines. Sometimes this doesn't even take much more work than your normal efforts in building a site. For some clients, you may want to hire an SEO specialist. But it's crucial to know how to get your clients ranked for appropriate keywords across search engines.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Piazza on November 3, 2009 at 6:21pm

Patrick, if I'm hearing you right, you've only been away from web development for maybe 3 years? It shouldn't be that hard to get back into the game.

From my viewpoint, the minimum skill set today includes the ability to write PHP, edit and create CSS stylesheets, edit Javascript, set up a MySQL database, and have enough proficiency with a LAMP hosting environment that you know what to do when things stop working.

PHP does not replace HTML, it makes HTML come alive with data. There are programmers who would greatly prefer to work in other, newer languages, but I think it's much too soon to write off PHP. It's too ubiquitous.

You can create Joomla sites without knowing PHP. We've been able to knock out functional sites in just a few hours by finding a template that did what we wanted, customizing it, and dumping in content. However, that's something that we really only do when we want to get something up and running as a demo site. Real clients always have things that they want their site to do that isn't available in quite the way they want it. You need to be fluent with PHP to provide those pieces. if you learn to make Joomla components with PHP, you'll be much happier with the results of your efforts.

Tim

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Permalink Reply by Evan Burke on November 3, 2009 at 9:05pm

"PHP does not replace HTML, it makes HTML come alive with data."

Great clarification.

And in response to Craig, there are definitely jobs out there for .Net developers, and it's a good idea to take a look at .Net.

As Tim points out, the ubiquity of PHP means that it's going to be supported and work well for the overwhelming majority of clients. It's something you can count on.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Piazza on November 3, 2009 at 6:22pm

Listen to Evan. He's right on the money.

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