I'm very happy to announce that I've just released my comprehensive guide to installing, configuring and running Apache 2, PHP 4.4.7 and PHP 5.2.2 on Windows XP. The guide is broken down into small manageable sections and contains over 50 screen shots of the entire process, so you won't go wrong while following it. It covers everything from installing Apache, to setting up a Virtual host to switching between PHP 4 and 5. A troubleshooting section and further advice rounds-off the guide. Read the guide here: http://wamp.corephp.co.uk If you have any comments, questions or find problems with the guide then please post your comments in this blog entry.

If you use NuSphere's excellent PhpED IDE then you'll know it has built-in CVS support for source control. This is a guide I wrote to using PhpED with the CVSDude.com service, so you can get your projects up and running in no time at all. CVSDude.com offer free CVS hosting for projects up to 10MB in size, and then very reasonable monthly rates for extra storage space, users and features. I personally have a Developer account with them, which gives me 1GB of space and a host of other extras. This guide will take you through linking PhpED to cvsdude.com.

Have you ever run into this problem when using PHP on Windows: You have uncommented an extension in your php.ini, you've checked that the DLL file exists, and is actually present, ready and waiting in your extensions folder, but when you start Apache you get a 'could not load module' error, claiming that the DLL you KNOW exists, isn't there. It can be frustrating at best, but there are several mistakes people make that cause this error, and there are also a number of 'hidden rules' that need to be obeyed in the php.ini file as well. To aid you, I have put together this guide which covers *every* default extension that comes with PHP5 and tells you how to get it working on Windows, what dependencies they have and also some vital tips on how you need to arrange your php.ini file and file system to ensure a painless set-up and no messy DLL conflicts.

It has been a LONG time since I posted to my blog, or even approved some of the many comments sat here (and deleted the spam). The reason for this is that shortly after the last post I made my wife gave birth to our first child, a boy that we named Thomas. As any parent will tell you, the first few months are hectic! and with a new child, something of a culture shock too :) But we've now at least managed to settle into some kind of daily routine (or at least as routine as a 6 month old will allow), so I'm ready to dust down this place and get the content flowing again.

There are millions of lines of PHP code freely available to download from the Internet, but how can you tell if the script you are about to install is going to send your site into oblivion or code nirvana? At the last count the popular resource site HotScripts.com listed over 6,800 PHP scripts with similar resource sites listing thousands more. No matter where you look on the Web you will find plenty of PHP code that you can download and install onto your web site covering just about everything you could ever need. The ease of developing with PHP has lead to the creation of this script gold mine, and while it can be a wonder to explore there are many factors you should take into consideration before going on a downloading frenzy. Will the script you are about to install bring your server to a halt? Does it open up glaring security issues? Is there a mess of complex and poorly written code behind the sleek HTML exterior? In this article we get our pick axes ready, delve deep and bring back examples that serve one purpose: to show you what to look out for in other peoples code. By looking at good, bad and just downright ugly snippets of code you can gain a far better understanding of the overall quality of a PHP script.

Using Transfer Files in PHP, their purpose, implementation and why they might just save your sanity. At some point, virtually all PHP developers will find themselves in a situation where they are passing values from one PHP script to another. This article focuses on the benefit of using a Transfer File to handle the data exchange and separation of the logic from the display and core processing scripts. Before we jump right into what Transfer Files are, let’s first consider a familiar example that most of us will have come across at some point or other: a user registration page. This page collects information about the user and then submits it for validation and processing.

My review of "The Zend PHP Certification Study Guide" book will appear in issue 11.05 of International PHP Magazine.

Although I cannot reproduce it here yet, my overall opinion of the book was one of "essential, but slightly flawed, reading". Apparently the 11.05 issue of Int PHP mag will be PDF only, they have ditched their print version from what I can gather in favour of a PDF monthly with a print round-up once a year. It's a shame, especially seeing as php architect seems to go from strength to strength, and competiton is always healthy.