Re: [PHP-EVANGELISM] Re: php.net web sites?

Le Jeudi 25 avril 2002, à 05:11 , Dave Mertens a écrit :

> On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 03:32:23PM -0400, Sean wrote:
>> Yeah, I know this is an old thread, but I was browsing the 
>> php-evangelism
>> archive on news.php.net, and thought this might be useful. Here's my

 From Dave list, here is a presentation of the PHP web site. I'd like 
some reading
from you guys, before I make it public. I'm not totally fluent with all 
those website, and I tried
to extract their use and goals. Feel free to shoot more details, but I'd 
like to keep
it simple enough for anyone to grasp the idea, and want to visit it for 
more details.

PHP.net : a tourist guide

Everyone knows the php.net site. All of us when there sooner or later, 
and will keep going back there. This is the central reference point for 
PHP users, and it has a wealth of informations there. And all of it 
isn't that obvious. Come with me, I'll show you.

www.php.net : PHP Main Website.
This is  the official web site. it is nicely designed by Colin Viebrock, 
and entertained the year round by Jim Winstead, James Cox and Gabor 
Hojtsy.
The front page is where major news are released : PHP version, security 
updates, new projects launched.

It has a download page, for everyone to get the latest PHP version, both 
for windows and source code definition. The current and last to current 
version are available there. Nowadays, a small PHP museum is available, 
with all the source distribution from June 1996.
http://www.php.net/downloads.php

The next most visited section is the manual. PHP documentation has a 12 
languages translation galore, available online and for download. A quite 
effective search engine allows fast search within the doc. Users gather 
around the PHP documentation team to provide annotation and feed back. 
The documentation is a real community project by itself!
http://www.php.net/docs.php
http://www.php.net/download-docs.php

The support help page give all the right direction to the PHP developper 
to a wealth of resources outside php.net. The community has built a huge 
network of knowledge base, PHP user groups, training sessions to anyone 
to have his questions answered. Non English users also get a large share 
of attention.
http://www.php.net/support.php
http://www.php.net/links.php

Now, buckle up your seat belt, and stop smoking. Here are the no-light 
streets.

chora.php.net, or cvs.php.net : PHP CVS Repository (CHORA)
The PHP project is organised with a CVS server, and this website is the 
web interface to it. There, you'll know without any CVS knowledge, the 
evolution of the sources and different parts of PHP code. For instance, 
the module php4 will show you all the usual files available in the 
distribution (such as zend, or ext..). And those are the latest source 
code available.

bonsai.php.net : PHP CVS Query Form (Bonsai)
This web site is directly linked to the one before : it allows easy 
search within the sources, so you may keep track of who has done update 
to files. This is most handy when you are working in a team on some 
specific section of the code. You may also keep an eye of evolution of 
implementation, and know the activity level of every extension.

conf.php.net : PHP Conference Material Site
This is where PHP speaker from all Open Source conférences and PHP 
Kongress keep their slides. It covers all sorts of topic, from the 
famous 'Rasmus' introduction to PHP to the latest 'PHP system 
administration', through PEAR and advanced topics. All those slides are 
available with the PHP slide application.

gtk.php.net : PHP-GTK Home
This web site is the home of PHP GTK : this is where PHP can be used to 
build graphic interface, with slick interface and highly interactive 
content. You'll find there downloads and docs, and the latest news from 
Andrei Zmeivski's project.

hosts.php.net : PHP Hosting Companies
If you are looking for a decent hosting company which will provide 
outstanding PHP support, this is your destination. There are currently 
about 300 hosting companies, from over 50 countries. You can register 
your (favorite) company there. Community leave a note about good and bad 
hosts.

lxr.php.net : PHP4 Cross Reference
Cross reference for source code, based on "Linux Cross reference". This 
is the ultimate tool for exploring PHP code. Browse inside the latest 
PHP code, and anytime important macro and or function are detected 
within the code, they are linked to their definition, and all their 
usage location. This will help you build your code, and understand PHP 
source.

news.php.net : PHP Mailing Lists / Newsgroups Web Interface
news.php.net is the web interface to the php.* news group. If you're not 
connected to PHP high volume mailing-lists, but you still want to keep 
in touch regularly, this is your place. Pear, PHP dev, PHP advocacy, PHP 
zend : all the place with the hotest subject about PHP. An infinite pile 
of fresh news and trends of PHP.

pear.php.net  The PHP Extension and Application Repository
PEAR is the next revolution in PHP, lead by Stig S. Bakken. This 
librairy is bringing higher level programming to PHP. PEAR is a 
framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components. It eases 
installation by bringing an automated wizard, and pack the strengthes 
and experiences of PHP users into a nicely organised OOP librairy. Pear 
is distributed through PHP main sources, and this site is the place for 
the documentation and contribution.

qa.php.net : PHP Quality Assurance Team Web Page
Quality Assurance team is one of the most important piece of the PHP 
project, protecting users from bugs and regressions errors. It is 
gathered around the QA mailing list, and use this interface allow anyone 
to provide tests and experience to the release process.

smarty.php.net          Smarty Template Engine Home
Smarty is another PHP spin off : Smarty provides your basic variable 
substitution and dynamic block functionality, and also takes a step 
further to be a "smart" template engine, adding features such as 
configuration files, template functions, variable modifiers, and making 
all of this functionality as easy as possible to use for both 
programmers and template designers.

PHP has a much larger web site than it appears on first sight. Usual 
users will focus on PHP scripting, and won't need to get confused by all 
the technical details and powerful tools that plunge deep into C code. 
And anyone getting serious about contributing to PHP will find an 
organized and efficient website, that will meet its need. Just like PHP 
itself.

Damien Seguy.

> There's also a master.php.net site. But this site is used to maintain
> mirrors, cvs users, events and inventory. The root however redirect
> 'foreign' people back to the www.php.net site.
>
> So i'm not sure if this site should be mentioned at all for the public.
Yeah, we may keep this closed. No need to drive traffic there.

Anything else?
May be we can ask the php.net domain maintainer (Colin Viebrock or Jim 
Winstead...)
to make sure we have all the relevant addresses.

Best regards,
Damien Seguy.