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Function Arguments
In the latest version of PHP there are well over 5000 functions built into the core of PHP these functions range from echoing and printing a string to creating and manipulating files and databases. In this tutorial I will show you how you can create you own functions.
Website Analysis
So you’ve finished off designing your website now its time to get on with optimizing your website for speed and loading times. To help with the analysis of your website I spent many hours trawling the internet for the best website to analyse my website. Well here are my 2 favourites.
GTMetrix – (http://www.gtmetrix.com)
GTMetrix.com is a advanced website allowing everything on your website to be assessed using Google’s Pagerank and Yahoo’s YSlow algorithm’s. GTMetrix also gives you tips on how to optimize those to gain the best rated website.
After spending a couple of hours optimizing my website my website speeded up its loading times by approximately 5 seconds. I also improved my SEO and upgraded my rating on both Google’s Pagerank and Yahoo’s Yslow.
Pingdom Tools – (http://www.pingdom.com)
While searching I also found Pingdom.com which shows a detailed view of the connection and loading times of each individual file. Using this I was able to find out which files were taking the longest and in the case of the javascript. Optimize their loading sequences.
Pingdom Tools also shows you when each file is loaded this can give you the view of files that load simulataneously.
What You Need To Host A Website
Weather your a beginner or an expert with websites there are 3 important items you need on your checklist when setting up a website.
– A Domain
– A Web Host
– Good Content
Domain
In order for people to visit your website you need a domain and extension, the best domains are easily short and easy to remember. Having a domain that is straight to the point also helps with Search Engine Optimisation (“SEO”). For example my website peter-kelly.com if someone were to look at that domain they would first think its about someone called Peter Kelly. Which would you believe it, it is 
. When choosing a domain it is also recommended you choose the right extension for you.
There are loads of domain extensions like .com, .co.uk, .org, .me, .me.uk, .net etc. But most of these are unique to a country or purpose, although you could use a domain like peter-kelly.us which is the United States country extension. Anyone in the world could still access it no matter what country they live in. Choosing a extension which is common in the country that you are targeting your website at can help them remember yours. (“Click here for the full list and description“).
Web Hosting
So once you have your domain you need somewhere that you can host your website files. This is where the web hosting item comes into play. There are a wide variety of types of website hosts and website hosts themselves. The most common types of web hosting are Shared Hosting, Resellers, VPS, Co-Location, Dedicated Hosting and the recent Cloud Hosting. (“For a description of each of these services courtesy of Wikipedia just click the links”). The most common is Shared Hosting and this is what we will be using for our example. This is where the website is hosted on a dedicated server along with possible hundreds of other websites, the server is managed by a company and all you have to do is maintain your own website.
Like anything there are lots of companies which are looking to cut corners where possible, and this is no different with web hosting companies. As web hosting is now as cheap as anything many people are now starting up their own business. Often these people rent cheap VPS”s or dedicated servers off a host that has their prices soo low they have to over fill their server with extra services to make a profit. This often leaves the customers with a slow and possibly inaccessible website.
When searching you should also consider location and speed of loading times to be an important factor, as search engines are getting more and more complex they are taking the location and speed of the website into account affecting rankings with search terms within the search engine. This should be thought about if you are a local company.
I am currently hosting my website with eleven2.com. Eleven2.com are a UK based company who are known for fast speeds, brilliant uptime and great support and in my checklist when searching for a web host that ticks all the boxes.
Content
Finally content. This may well be the hardest part to complete, for your website to get visitors new and returning visitors there has to be something they would be interested in and would want to see again. For example: Youtube.com the website hosts thousands of videos and allows users to interact with the videos and view other people’s uploaded videos. With the recent boom in internet usage and social networking rising at an astronomical pace. It was the 3 guys Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim who first cottoned onto this rapidly growing area that would catch the interest of a vast audience.
So when creating content have a layout that is easy on the eye and can be easily navigated. Having a site map located somewhere on your website allows your users and search engines to find your pages easier. When creating content you should take a step back and think would I visit this myself? If the answer is no or not for very long you need to rethink your content.
TinyBE Project
With a bit of time off work, I have started the development of a URL Shortening Service named TinyBE. I have purchasec both tinybe.com and .co.uk and have got the basic principle of the project in place. Matthew Killington a Web Designer from PrsWebSolutions is currently designing a clean and simple layout. Once completed I will move onto the second stage which will include an API, ability to pass arguments from the Short URL.
TESTERS
If you are interested in testing out services as they are developed and implemented. Please contact me@peter-kelly.me. Any testers that are willing to spend their valued time testing this project are really appreciated.
UPDATE -14/06/2011
I have now completed a design and have completed stage 1 of the website. I am currently developing a logo and API, hopefully I should have the API and logo completed within the next few weeks.
If you are interested in helping or participating with this project please contact me me@peter-kelly.me.
Domain Maintenance
After pk-tuts.co.uk taking a beating by hackers several months ago. I have decided to redirect it to peter-kelly.com. As it had fell into disrepair and this blog now includes more and better tutorials. So if anyone is redirected here could they please update their bookmarks.
License System
In this tutorial we will be developing a license system which can be used with construction of any scripts you develop.
How the system will work.
First the client or the website script will send off a request to the server using PHP and Curl. This will initiate the response page on the server side it will then retrieve the license from the database using the details provided from the client. The status will then be sent back to the client if unsuccessful an error message will be sent. The client then received the output. Should the license be invalid the script will exit and an error message displayed.
