Getting the best out of PHP
PHP, the most popular server-side language for web development, is easy to learn, but there are lots of pitfalls for the unwary. To help ease the process, David Powers has written a series of books about using PHP in conjunction with Dreamweaver and Flash.
This site describes the books and has updates to information that has changed since they were published.
PHP Object-Oriented Solutions—Now available
PHP Object-Oriented Solutions, my latest book on PHP, has just been published. It's a gentle, but fast paced introduction to object-oriented programming in PHP 5. Details here...
Dreamweaver CS4 now available as public beta
Adobe has released the next version of Dreamweaver (CS4) as a public beta. It's the most important upgrade to the program since MX was released in 2002. Grab a copy from Adobe Labs (you'll need a licensed version of CS3 to use it for more than two days). Then take a quick tour of its new interface and major features in two video guides in the tutorials section of this site.
Finding the Windows installer for Apache
Some people are having difficulty locating the Windows installer for Apache. Details here...
Enabling PHP on Mac OS X Leopard
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) comes with Apache 2.2.6 and PHP 5.2.4 preinstalled, but neither is enabled by default. Normally, I recommend using the Mac PHP package created by Marc Liyanage, but a Leopard-compatible version was not immediately available. I have created detailed instructions on how to get the preinstalled version of PHP up and running on Leopard in the Tutorials section.
Spry 1.6 updater available for Dreamweaver CS3
Adobe has finally released an extension that updates the version of Spry in Dreamweaver from 1.4 to 1.6. More details in my blog. Or if you can't wait, go straight to Adobe Labs to get it.
The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3
My book about Dreamweaver—The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 with CSS, Ajax, and PHP—is now in its fifth printing. It provides in-depth coverage of the CSS and dynamic features of Dreamweaver CS3. (A new version for Dreamweaver CS4 is currently scheduled for December 2008.) More details...
PHP Solutions—"favourite book of 2006"
Carolyn Wood, Editor of Digital Web Magazine, chose my latest book, PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy, as her favourite book of 2006. It's aimed at the beginner to intermediate level and places high emphasis on secure coding practices. More details...
