I had never used Zend Framework before, though had used Symfony with a PHP project a few years earlier. I was asked to be the PHP developer for a new and innovative offering from a well-known NZ bank. So it was a "0-60 in ten minutes" job, and I grew to like…
Pharmahealth was a PHP and JavaScript web site, for a small business selling remedies and supplements derived entirely from natural ingredients. Kennedy Garland, who runs Pharma Health, (Auckland NZ) already had some idea of key ingredients to use in the graphic design of the web site, such as a red-cross motif. He…
Implementing a web-site store for Topologika (UK educational software) using the Paypal payments system. Topologika was an educational software company. I inherited a great-looking site build by Will Godfrey and worked on its maintenance. Then, in order to sell products over the web, they asked me to implement an online store. Initially,…
As preparation for my family's intended emigration to New Zealand in 2008, I thought it would be helpful (and, yes, fun!) to create a map of NZ schools, with some selection by decile. It became an intriguing exercise in juggling technologies. And it succeeded. When I converted this site from Silverstripe into…
I had a great time with PHP and MySQL developing a page to display UK TV listings, which was at www.freetellyguide.co.uk (no longer active). You can select which TV channels to display, you can use free-text search, and look ahead day-by-day for the next week. Most programmes have associated summaries which we…
Using Drupal, I implemented a brand-new website "Everybodys Acupuncture", for Heather Rabone in Devon. (site is no longer active). Heather had been working in acupuncture, massage and other natural health solutions for some years. She decided the time had come to promote herself more widely, but also wanted a website which she…
I had re-created this web-site in 2007. Things had flourished enough by 2008 for the client to commission a re-branding and a new sister site, focussing on Sports injuries. And again in 2010. For the latest incarnation of this UK Physiotherapy site in 2010, I created a smooth-scrolling Flash animation for a…
If your header location redirect isn't working, check your PHP filetype. Actually, many weird stubbornesses of PHP might be prompted by this gotcha. Are you having trouble with a PHP Header Location? Does your browser stubbornly say "Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by ...". If so, first ensure…
I'm always forgetting and re-learning this one. Why won't it stick? Now it's here as an aide-memoire. How to cross-update a field from values in another table. The scenario is: you have an empty column in one table which you want to update with related values in another table. How to choose…