Where can I find a good brief intro (or cheat sheet) for PHP? Ideally aimed at helping tweak Wordpress.
It might be in the format of a Quick Reference or Cheat Sheet. Or it might be a short tutorial doc.
The best for me would have as many of these characteristics as possible....
- Doesn't spend time explaining general programming concepts
- Explains PHP by comparing with C or Ruby
- Explains use within Wordpress specifically (e.g. useful template tags, the loop)
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M$2 Answers
I understand completely where you are coming from! I don't have a great deal of experience with the vast range of programming languages but acknowledge that PHP is important and I like to tinker with Wordpress too :)
Well there are a few ways to get started with PHP. The best intro would be on the W3schools website - you can learn the basic principles and then test yourself for free. You will know the info given is great quality too as it is W3C that define web standards.
For Wordpress specific help I would suggest a few different approaches as people often like to learn in different ways:
1 .codex.wordpress.org
This is the online wiki / manual for using Wordpress and looking under the hood of the code. If you use the search or define the site within a google search you will get some great results explaining in layman's terms what is going on in each line of code found in Wordpress.
Once you get more comfortable I think this cheat-sheet or Function Reference will also help.
2. Examine other people's themes - the simpler the better at first.
Once you're comfortable with the loop etc examine others plugins too. If you get stuck too early on try a beginners tutorial in theme building, like this one: http://themeshaper.com/wordpress-theme-development-tools-tutorial/
3. Use forums
Ask a pro! Building on the open source philosophies Wordpress developers are often friendly and willing to go that extra mile to help people.
4. If you have done well at getting started you could then go on to reading up on the rest of PHP as it will probably help in the long run. This book is highly recommended by Stackoverflow users.
I hope this goes well for you. Wordpress is well established as is PHP so you should do well with what you learn and I think both will be around for some time.
Good luck!
http://www.w3schools.com
http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page
http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference
http://themeshaper.com/wordpress-theme-development-tools-tutorial/
http://www.apress.com/book/view/9781590599099
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/90924/what-is-the-best-php-programming-b...
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Thanks for your efforts.
The WP Function Reference is the kind of level of info I was looking for. That was also the kind of level of info I was looking for on PHP, i.e. "cheat sheet" of one or a few pages, rather than a tutorial or a book.