Entries tagged "Web Development"
Log Online Form Requests Part 2: Add the Field Separator Dynamically with implode()
When saving data to text files, each field is usually separated by something like the pipe character (|). The character is useful for importing and dividing the fields into a spreadsheet solution like Microsoft Excel. Normally, I add the character between each field manually, but there's an alternate using PHP's implode() function. [Continue reading]
Log Online Form Requests in Case Something Happens with the E-mailed Results
When building data-collection forms online, clients occasionally want the information sent directly to them via e-mail. Although it's convenient, there are issues with that delivery method. Spam filters may catch the messages. Messages may be overlooked and accidentally deleted due to the sheer number of e-mails a person receives per day. Or something could just go wrong with the mail server and the message never gets sent. With all the potential ways for e-mails to get lost, it's important to backup the information collected. One backup option is to store the data into a text file. [Continue reading]
End PHP Scripts Gracefully After a Failed Database Connection
Last week's post talked about externalizing the MySQL connection script for easier maintenance. The problem with the previous code is that it's not very user friendly. If the database connection fails, it just drops everything and displays an error. Well, there's probably other content on the web page that can be viewed without database access. The website navigation, for example, most likely doesn't require a database. The navigation will probably lead to other pages that don't need that database. To minimize the impact to the visitor, let's look at a more graceful solution for handling connection failures. [Continue reading]
Maintain Your Database Login Information with Ease by Externalizing the Connection Script
When working with databases like MySQL, a connection needs to be established before processing any queries. That connection script could be added to the top of every page needing access, but what happens when the database password needs updating. Who wants to update dozens (or thousands) of files? As a solution, let's look at externalizing the code that makes the connection and importing it instead. [Continue reading]
Maintaining a List of Blog Entries
When starting this blog, my goal was to release content regularly—at least once per week. Taking too long of a break would likely wreak havoc on my motivation for blogging. This isn't the first personal project I've tried starting after all. To stay focused, I needed a steady stream of ideas. Unfortunately, those ideas don't always flow when needed. They tend to crop up (and quickly disappear) when doing something other than writing for the blog. That's where tracking those thoughts is handy. [Continue reading]
Rethinking the Structure of My Templates
Over the past few years I've been working on an initiative which shares a single template over several websites. The overall process has gone fairly well, but my standard process for building templates in PHP isn't holding so well. The number of files could use some pruning and there have been issues with variables and helper functions not being available when needed. Plus, it would be nice to have a common place where overall website setting could be changed to affect all pages. So it's time to rethink my template-building process. [Continue reading]
Scrolling through a Page Quickly with Keyboard Shortcuts
When viewing pages on the Web, there are a number of ways to get around. Interacting with the browser's scroll bar is one of the more tedious options, in my opinion. Let's speed up the process with keyboard shortcuts. [Continue reading]
How to Avoid Conflicting Variable Names
On occasion, variables in PHP may conflict. This is easy to avoid when all the code appears in a single file. What happens when code is scattered throughout the website? Maybe there are variables tucked away in a template file which is brought in with a PHP include. How do you avoid conflicting variables within a file that's used by many other pages on the website? [Continue reading]
Mysteriously Changing Font Sizes When Viewing Websites
When browsing the Web, has the text ever mysteriously gotten smaller or larger? If so, you're not alone. There have been many times where I'm working with a website and all of a sudden something doesn't look right. I used to think that a mistake was made in the code, but it turns out that my mouse was the culprit. [Continue reading]
Before Deleting a Database Table, Change Its Name
When a MySQL table is no longer needed, it could be deleted. However, are you sure that the necessary changes have been made so that the website is no longer connected to the table? It's tough to know for sure when the old database table is still available for querying. If the table is removed and it's still being used, it takes time to fix the connection(s). The database table could be restored until everything is fixed, but that's going to take time also. Instead, let's consider renaming the table before permanently deleting it. [Continue reading]
