Extended iTunes Track class for PHP

• September 26, 2010
• James Skemp

In a previous article, I had outlined classes in C# and PHP to handle iTunes Playlists to Xml outputs. Having let it sit on the back burner for long enough, I finally went back to the PHP class and finalized the constructor. I also added two functions for sorting. Below I have the current code for the class (a current version of the Track class for PHP will always be available elsewhere) and then an example implementation.

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iTunes Track class in C# and PHP

• September 8, 2010
• James Skemp

I've recently begun reading up on PHP again. As I'm most fond of my iTunes Playlists to Xml application, I thought I'd work with that application's output - XML files with playlist data - as I continued to dig into PHP (instead of stopping now that I know enough to tweak existing code and create new functionality). Here's a basic Track object in C# and PHP. I'll of course be elaborating on these as time goes by (and already have code for the C# implementation).

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Enabling PHP file_put_contents() support on IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2

• September 1, 2010
• James Skemp

I've already installed the current verison of PHP 5.2 on my Windows Server 2008 R2 machine, but unfortunately wasn't able to get content saved via the file_put_contents function. It seems that you need to add and give IUSR the necessary permissions on the file (or directory) in order for writes to work properly.

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Upgrading PHP (4.4.2 to 4.4.4 and 5.1.4 to 5.2.0)

• November 26, 2006
• James Skemp

In this article, we'll be upgrading PHP on our local, Windows, Web server. In previous guides we installed PHP 4.4.2 as well as PHP 5.1.4, both on the same machine, with the ability to switch as we like. However, we've yet to cover how to upgrade either installation (and upgrading is definitely a need).

At the time of this writing, the current versions of PHP are 4.4.4 and 5.2.0, for the 4.x and 5.x versions, respectively.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 6: phpBB

• November 25, 2006
• James Skemp

It's that time again. This time, we'll be looking at phpBB. “phpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customizable Open Source bulletin board package. phpBB has a user-friendly interface, simple and straightforward administration panel, and helpful FAQ. Based on the powerful PHP server language and your choice of MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC database servers, phpBB is the ideal free community solution for all web sites.” Lot's of features, so let's get to it.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 5: PunBB

• November 24, 2006
• James Skemp

Almost there. This time, we'll be looking at PunBB. First, I did donate to PunBB development some time ago. At the time, I liked PunBB, and received some great support. It's been sometime since that time, so I don't know how things stand.

Anywho, “PunBB is a fast and lightweight PHP-powered discussion board. It is released under the GNU General Public License. Its primary goals are to be faster, smaller and less graphically intensive as compared to other discussion boards. PunBB has fewer features than many other discussion boards, but is generally faster and outputs smaller, semantically correct XHTML-compliant pages.”

In this article, we'll be installing PunBB version 1.2.14, which is the latest version, as of October 15, 2006.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 4: MyBB

• November 22, 2006
• James Skemp

This time, we'll be looking at MyBB. “MyBB is a powerful, efficient and free forum package developed in PHP and MySQL. MyBB has been designed with the end users in mind, you and your subscribers. Full control over your discussion system is presented right at the tip of your fingers, from multiple styles and themes to the ultimate customisation of your forums using the template system.”

In this article, we'll be installing MyBB version 1.2.1, which is the latest version, as of September 27, 2006.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 3: Simple Machines

• November 21, 2006
• James Skemp

Curiously, in late-September 2006, Simple Machines Forum turned three (it had been three years since 1.0 beta 1). That's curious because the current stable version of Simple Machines is 1.0.9, and there's a 1.1 RC3 out as well (as of late-October 2006).

In this article, we'll be installing Simple Machines version 1.0.9, so we can compare it to the other PHP forums that we've installed, or will be installing.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 2: Vanilla

• November 20, 2006
• James Skemp

While the Vanilla forum's are fairly unknown, it's been around for a little over a year. “Vanilla is an open-source, standards-compliant, multi-lingual, fully extensible discussion forum for the web.” The version we'll be installing, 1.0.1, was released in late-August 2006.

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PHP Forum Software Showdown Part 1: bbPress

• November 19, 2006
• James Skemp

A relative new-comer, bbPress “is forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress”. The first public version, 0.72, was released in mid-October 2006, and the version we'll be installing, 0.73, was released a couple of weeks later. Downloading bbPress is fairly easy, since there's only two options – one for the installer in .zip, and one in .tar.gz.

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