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.
New setup procedure for phpMyAdmin 3.1.x
As luck would have it, the setup procedure for phpMyAdmin changed on the same day as my new book on Dreamweaver was published. I will eventually create a set of detailed instructions, but you can find a summary of the main changes in the updates page for The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS4 with CSS, Ajax, and PHP.
Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS4—Now available
The new edition of my bestselling book about getting the best out of Dreamweaver, The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS4 with CSS, Ajax, and PHP, was published at the beginning of December, and is available in bookshops and online stores in both North America and Europe. The book has been completely updated and revised to reflect the major changes in Dreamweaver CS4. The CS3 edition is still available, and is the right choice if you aren't in a position to upgrade to CS4. To avoid confusion with the instructions in the book, make sure you get the right edition for the version of Dreamweaver you're using.
Changes to phpMyAdmin 3.0
The user interface for defining new tables in phpMyAdmin has changed in phpMyAdmin 3, which was released in late September 2008. This affects instructions in my books published before this date. See my blog entry for a list of the differences.
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...
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...
