We are using PHP as our development language and I am subscribed to the
PHP Mailing List <[email protected]> for the past year or
so. I have learnt a great deal just by observing the discussions on
this list. The list is pretty high volume, with more than hundred
messages a day.
One of the recurring discussions on the list is about people not
reading the manual, not searching google to solve their problems so on.
Every month or so someone will say 'RTFM' to a new subscriber and
somebody else will object to it and there will be a 20 messages long
thread.
One of the suggestions bandied about was for the list admin to send a
intro message to new subscribers advising best practices. Nothing
happened. I compiled a list of points and sent to the list offering to
send it once in a week so that the new subscribers can be helped
without their creating trouble for eveyone else.
A few others contributed some points and as on October 16th 2003, the
message has the following structure :
=========================================================
This message is for the benefit of new subscribers and those new to
PHP.
Those who do not want to be bothered just filter out the [Newbie
Guide]
mails. Please feel free to add more points and send to the list.
==========================================================
1. If you have any queries/problems about PHP try
http://www.php.net/manual/en
first. You can download a copy and use it offline also.
You can also try http://www.php.net/manual/faq.php to get answers to
frequently answered questions about PHP (added by Christophe Chisogne).
2. Try http://www.google.com next. Try searching for "php YOUR QUERY"
and you
may be lucky to get an answer within the first 10 results.
3. Glancing through the list archive at
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=php-general , you can find many of the
common topics discussed repeatedly and can get your answer from those
discussions.
4. If you are stuck with a script and do not understand what is wrong,
instead
of posting the whole script, try doing some research yourself. One
useful
trick is to print the variable/sql query using print or echo command
and
check whether you get what you expected.
After diagnosing the problem, send the details of your efforts
(following
steps 1, 2 & 3) and ask for help.
5. Provide a clear descriptive subject line. Avoid general subjects
like
"Help!!", "A Question" etc. Especially avoid blank subjects.
6. When you want to start a new topic, open a new mail and enter the
mailing
list address [email protected] instead of replying to an
existing
thread and replacing the subject and body with your message.
7. PHP is a server side scripting language. Whatever processing PHP
does takes
place BEFORE the output reaches the client. Therefore, it is not
possible to
access the users' computer related information (OS, screen size
etc) using
PHP. You need to go for JavaScript and ask the question in a JavaScript
list.
8. It's always a good idea to post back to the list once you've solved
your problem. People usually add [SOLVED] to the subject line of their
email when posting solutions. By posting your solution you're helping
the next person with the same question. [contribued by Chris W Parker]
9. Ask smart questions http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
[contributed by Jay Blanchard)
10. One of the repeatedly discussed question in the list is "Best PHP
editor".
Everyone has his/her favourite editor. You can get all the opinions by
going
through the list archives. If you want a list try this link :
http://phpeditors.linuxbackup.co.uk/ (contributed by Christophe
Chisogne).
Hope you have a good time programming with PHP.
Best regards,