This is a quick follow up post from Tony Spencers post “cURL with PHP and Apache on Windows.” I’d like to thank him for sharing his knowledge.

The reason i wanted to post this is to clear up any confusion you about getting Curl to work on Windows XP (with PHP 5.2.9-2 and Apache 2.2.11). Most likely this solution will work with all versions of PHP5 and Apache 2.2.x and if you are running XAMPP you can check how easy it is to >> enable << .

Getting Curl to Work!!

1. First thing to do is to have the development environment installed locally on your computer. I have one at the office with installed without the installer and one here at home with the installer. For all intensive purposes lets concentrate on using php/apache installed with the MSI installer. If you got that going thats great, if not head on over to this >> Tutorial to install your local development << (the manual way with the installer) If you got it installed already head on over to the next point
2. Next thing you need to do (after your installation) is to check your phpinfo() file. If you don’t have one make one and load it up on your local web-server. It should look like the screen below:
   

   If you don’t see your Curl extension in phpinfo() after trying to find it I suggest you install php again using the installer. Make sure your ENABLE all extensions/features in your installation as you will get an option to do so. (install all features please) If you explore the extension features in your install dialogue box you will see CURL there. This my friends is the key to the problem. If the installer gives you the option for less headache then use it. Did I mention that you can also rerun the installer and choose “Change”, then add the CURL extension?!

3. Once you have installed properly and find the Curl extension in your phpinfo() screen make sure to copy these files from your PHP root directory (mine was D:\Program Files\PHP) to your c:\windows\system32:
   libeay32.dll
ssleay32.dll
   Also make sure that a copy of php5ts.dll is also in your Apache/bin directory
4. Last step is to uncomment this line curl: extension=php_curl.dll in your php.ini file. That should do it for you and hopefully everything worked out right!
5. To test that Curl is actually working use this snippet of code and drop it in to your server root (usually htdocs):

   <?php
       error_reporting(E_ALL);
       ini_set('display_errors', '1');
       $ch = curl_init();
       curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,
       'http://news.google.com/news?output=rss');
       curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
       $contents = curl_exec ($ch);
       echo $contents;
       curl_close ($ch);
       ?>
       

   Try this as well to display feeds from your blog (where $sXML = show_feeds(’put the url of your blog here/atom’)

   <?php
   function show_feeds($path) {
           $ch = curl_init();
           curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,$path);
           curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR,1);
           curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION,1);
           curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
           curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 15);
           $retValue = curl_exec($ch);
           curl_close($ch);
           return $retValue;
   }
   $sXML = show_feeds('http://blogspot.fluidnewmedia.com/atom');
   $oXML = new SimpleXMLElement($sXML);
   <p>foreach($oXML->entry as $oEntry) {
           echo $oEntry->title . "\n";
   }
   ?>
   

6. If you see the the rss feed of Google then you are done! Change the output to ‘html’ and you will see the RSS feed displayed properly in html.

Scripting Twitter with cURL via Command Line

Ok the above explanation shows you how to use Curl and PHP together to build applications based on API’s that you would like to hook into. It doesn’t mean that you have Curl installed in your command like prompt where you can actually see the XML.

To do that is quite simple. Go over to http://curl.haxx.se/download.html and download the the Win32 Generic (7.19.4) by Dirk Paehl. Go ahead and extract it to a local folder (I extracted it to D:\Program Files\Curl).

Next open up the command prompt and cd into the same directory you extracted it into. Now just type in curl at the prompt to make sure the command is recoginized

If you want to easily overcome the shortcomings of Twitter’s API us this command below:

curl --basic --user username:password --data status="Checking out Curl!!" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml
//replace username:password with your user name and password


You should end up with this below:

So by now you should have a good idea of how Curl works with Apache and PHP as well as on the command line. The way i explained above should work straight out of the box. Good Luck!

I have been analyzing Open Source social media, how it works and what are the best platforms out there available for us to use. Though this is not a comparison of frameworks, or an in-depth article it’s a good place to start checking out the different frameworks that help us create these dynamic robust sites that are becoming more and more popular by the day.

There is always the option to build your own social media site (which we have already done, contact us for a demo). I have talked to companies that have taken the giant leap into social media and have implemented fully-featured scenarios enabling their users to interact, share and connect with others.

Much like other companies we have spent a lot of time and energy developing this system in-house and were lucky enough to have the development skills to get started + my own development expertise. I’ll tell you developing in-house isn’t as straightforward as leveraging an existing Open Source Platform or using Open-Source scripts.

The fact is that the web changes everyday and if you are not in the position to hire developers (the competent ones have high rates) you might be looking down a double edged sword. Instead why not avail the power of thousands of developers constantly improving one platform (of your choice) and then customizing it from there. This approach will save you a lot of time, money and hair-loss! Another point to note is that most of these open source systems are stable, easy to deploy and at fractions of the cost than that of In-house or contractual development.

So let’s get to it shall we? Ohh before I move on I would appreciate any comments or extra information that might add value to this article. Thanks..

Mahara:

Mahara is an open source e-portfolio system with a flexible display framework. Mahara, meaning ‘think’ or ‘thought’ in Te Reo Māori, is user centered environment with a permissions framework that enables different views of an e-portfolio to be easily managed. Mahara also features a weblog, resume builder and social networking system, connecting users and creating online learner communities.

Home Page: http://mahara.org/
Demo: http://demo.mahara.org/

Spree

Spree is an expert search engine where users ask questions to find other participating users, who are knowledgeable in that area and willing to help. Spree aims to create an active online community, especially in enterprises, where every user can ask questions or act as an expert helping fellow users.

Home Page: http://project.askspree.de/
ScreenShots: http://spree.dai-labor.de/screenshots/

Appleased

The Appleseed Project is an effort to create open source Social Networkingsoftware that is based on a distributed model. For instance, a profile on one Appleseed website could “friend” a profile on another Appleseed website, and the two profiles could interact with each other.

Homepage: http://appleseed.sourceforge.net/
Notes: Interoperable meaning that two appleased apps can communicate with each other (Like Myspace)

GetBoo

GetBoo was created more than 3 years ago (April 2005) for the main purpose of learning PHP and MySQL. Also, I wanted to be trained in the web environment, because since we browse the web almost daily I wanted to know how things work. My first idea was to make a bookmarking website. Little I knew about social bookmarking.

Homepage: http://www.getboo.com/project.php
Notes: Social bookmarking, interesting code and thought provoking no holds barred developer.

Elgg

Elgg was started in 2004 with the aim of providing an elegant and powerful solution for anyone who wants to create their own online community. Elgg is free and open source and powers all kinds of social networks – from education and business to martial artsand rugby. If you are looking for a professional social intranet or just want to run a site for your fishing club, Elgg is a great choice.

Homepage: http://elgg.org/
Notes: Extremely well laid out with and has options for a turnkey solution.

Movable Type Motion

From Twitter to FaceBook, you’re already using social media to build relationships with customers online. But those services don’t give you total control over your brand. Now Motion gives you a way to manage your message across all of these social networks, while still empowering your community to be part of the conversation.

Home page: http://movabletype.com/motion/
Demo: http://www.movabledemo.com/motion_demo/

BuddyPress

BuddyPress is a suite of WordPress plugins and themes, each adding a distinct new feature. BuddyPress contains all the features you’d expect from WordPress but aims to let members socially interact.

Homepage: http://buddypress.org/
Demo: http://buddypress.org/demo

PHP MOTION

PHPmotion Media Sharing CMS – PHPmotion is a free video sharing software that also has support for other types of media such as audio/mp3 sharing. The Content Managent System or (media cms application) will allow you to create and run your very own Video Sharing website, Music Sharing Site, Picture Sharing Site.

HomePage: http://www.phpmotion.com/
Features: http://phpmotion.com/content/view/17/33/

Dolphin

Match, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Odeo and Facebook combined, free Web 2.0 software. Create a unique community, social network, or dating site instantly with the world’s most popular open-source community script.

Home Page: http://www.boonex.com/
Demo: http://www.boonex.us/

PHPizabi

PHPizabi is one of the most powerful social networking platforms on the planet. With literally thousands of websites powered by PHPizabi including everything from simple friends sites to the most complex networking super sites out there. Easy to install, use, and raising the bar on what it is to provide a reliable, fast, social networking package to raise your business to the next level.

Home Page: http://www.phpizabi.net/

Pligg

Pligg is an open source Content Management System (CMS) that you can download and use for free. Pligg CMS provides social networking software that encourages visitors to register on your website so that they can submit content and connect with other users.
Homepage: http://www.pligg.com/

The above list will give you a lot of options to choose between the different types of Social Media sites. You can check them out and see which one *closest fits your needs and then extend upon that. These platforms are worth the fuss if you are able to use them properly and customize them to you needs.

I started out in this business with a keen eye on design and especially flash.  What i missed out was was the business logic side, especially how rapidly one can develop websites/applications with the use of open source php frameworks.

What i didnt realize is that design is great, but most people want projects done with php. I’m not going to go on about this, but i am doing extensive research on different frameworks and which one would suit your business the best.

Here is a list of what i have found so far (Ajax and Javascript support as well).

1.  AJAX CORE 

AjaxCore is an open source PHP framework that aims the ease development of rich AJAX applications, using Prototype’s JavaScript standard library. This means it uses Prototype as the core for making the AJAX requests, as it’s proven to be reliable on any browser, plus adding all Prototype’s features and shortcuts that reduce typing and help avoid the reinvention of the wheel.

The framework is really easy to use, you can start using AjaxCore right away as it doesn’t require you to learn anything new. All functionality is build into a PHP class file that you’ll have to extend with your custom requirements, and then bind HTML elements with PHP functions that will called when the appropriate JavaScript event is triggered, thats all you have to handle, also optionally you may send HTML elements by just attaching their IDs and the framework will do the rest.

2.  ARTISAN CORE   

The Artisan Framework is a new PHP5 Framework that allows developers to quickly build robust web software. However, it can be used to build command line and non-web software quickly as well. Like other PHP5 frameworks, it makes use of the Model-View Controller design pattern to operate. Artisan System is fully Object Oriented, and all of the objects that can be built with it interact with each other nicely.

3.  CAFFEINE PHP TO GO  

Caffeine is a lite-weight PHP 4 and PHP 5 compatible framework that provides a small development layer, without getting in the way of the programmer. It’s “PHP To Go”!

Caffeine’s core can be expanded by using Libraries. Libraries are a collection of PHP Classes or Functions.

4.  CAKE PHP

CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP that provides an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying applications. Using commonly known design patterns like MVC and ORMwithin the convention over configuration paradigm, CakePHP reduces development costs and helps developers write less code.

5.  FUSE 

FUSE is a Model View Controller framework for PHP. Taking influence from other web frameworks such as Ruby on Rails and CakePHP, then adding in custom, intuitive features of our own design, FUSE has developed into a robust, stable platform for MVC development using object oriented PHP.

5.  HORDE

The Horde Project is about creating high quality Open Source applications, based on PHP and the Horde Framework.

The guiding principles of the Horde Project are to create solid standards-based applications using intelligent object oriented design that, wherever possible, are designed to run on a wide range of platforms and backends.

There is great emphasis on making Horde as friendly to non-English speakers as possible. The Horde Framework currently supports many localization features such as unicode and right-to-left text and generous users have contributed many translations for the framework and applications.

6.  LISA FRAMEWORK

LISA is an object oriented web application framework based on PHP 5.2 and Smarty template engine. LISA is follows the model view controller architecture.

PEAR

PEAR is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components. You can find help using PEAR packages in the online manual and the FAQ.

8.  PHP NUKE (More of a Content Management System than a Framework)

PHP-Nuke is a news automated system specially designed to be used in Intranets and Internet. The Administrator has total control of his web site, registered users, and he will have in the hand a powerful assembly of tools to maintain an active and 100% interactive web site using databases.

Ok so here are the most popular ones that i have seen.  Refer below to some of the Content Management Systems driven by PHP.

- **Joomla
- Drupal
- ModX
- **TextPattern
- XOOPS
- **Wordpress 
- **Expression Engine 

** My favorites

Note that i havent mentioned Code Igniter at all.  This is simply because i have already made a post about it. The reason CI is better than most is that it provides great documentation and a helpful community, which is far more superior that any of the documention for the Frameworks above (excluding the CMS systems of course.

Have i missed anything here?  Feel free to add to this list

Throughout my time as a web developer i have realized that using dynamically created web pages is the best solution to rapidly developing websites and applications.  I usually hunt around for frameworks when i have the free time and one that I found today was:  Code Igniter

WHAT IS CODE IGNITER?

CodeIgniter is a powerful PHP framework with a very small footprint, built for PHP coders who need a simple and elegant toolkit to create full-featured web applications. If you’re a developer who lives in the real world of shared hosting accounts and clients with deadlines, and if you’re tired of ponderously large and thoroughly undocumented frameworks.

Code Igniter is right for you if..

• You want a framework with a small footprint.
• You need exceptional performance.
• You need broad compatibility with standard hosting accounts that run a variety of PHP versions and configurations.
• You want a framework that requires nearly zero configuration.
• You want a framework that does not require you to use the command line.
• You want a framework that does not require you to adhere to restrictive coding rules.
• You are not interested in large-scale monolithic libraries like PEAR.
• You do not want to be forced to learn a templating language (although a template parser is optionally available if you desire one).
• You eschew complexity, favoring simple solutions.
• You need clear, thorough documentation.

BRIEF HISTORY OF APACHE (As written on Wikipedia)

The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to simply as Apache [??pæt?i], is a web server notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. Apache was the first viable alternative to the Netscape Communications Corporation web server (currently known as Sun Java System Web Server), and has since evolved to rival other Unix-based web servers in terms of functionality and performance.

It is often said that the project’s name was chosen for two reasons: ⁽¹⁾ out of respect for the Native American Indian tribe of Apache (Indé), well-known for their endurance and their skills in warfare, ⁽²⁾ and due to the project’s roots as a set of patches to the codebase of NCSA HTTPd 1.3 – making it “a patchy” server.
Apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. The application is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including Unix, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Novell NetWare, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, and eComStation. Released under the Apache License, Apache is characterized as free software and open source software.

Since April 1996 Apache has been the most popular HTTP server on the World Wide Web. However, since November 2005 it has experienced a steady decline of its market share, lost mostly to Microsoft Internet Information Services. As of April 2008 Apache served 50.42% of all websites.

BRIEF HISTORY OF PHP

The origins of PHP date back to 1995, when an independent software development contractor names Rasmus Lerdorf developed a Perl/CGI script that enabled him to know how many visitors were reading his online resume’. His script performed to tasks: logging visitor information, and displaying the count of visitors to the Web page.

Because the Web as we know it today was still young at that time, tools such as these were nonexistent, and they prompted emails inquiring about Lerdorf’s scripts. Lerdorf thus begun giving away his toolset, dubbed Personal Home Page. The clamor for the PHP toolset prompted Lerdorf to cuntinue developing the language, perhaps the most notable change early change coming when he added a feature for converting data. Ongoing additions to the PHP toolset cuminated in November 1997 with the release of PHP 2.0, or Personal Home Page – Form Interpreter (PHP-FI). As a result PHP’s rising popularity, the 2.0 release was accompanied by a number of enhancements and improvements from programmers worlwide.

The new PHP release was extremely popular, and a core team of developers soon joined Lerdorf. They kept the original concept of incorporating code directly alongside HTML and rewrote the parsing engine, giving birth to PHP 3.0, By the June 1998 release of version 3.0, more than 50,000 users were using PHP to enhance their Web Pages.

Development continued at a hectic pace over the next two years, with hundreds of functions being added and the user count growing in leaps and bounds. At the beginning of 1999, Netcrafts reported a conservative estimate of a user base surpassing 1,000,000, making PHP one of the most popular scripting languages of the world.

INSTALLING APACHE 2.0.6 FOR WINDOWS
Installing the Apache server coupled with PHP 5 can sometimes be a daunting task simply because open source technologies are always changing with newer releases, patches, etc, etc. I would like to take this time to make simplify the process of installing a working server on your local machine.There are numerous ways to install the Apache server on your local machine:

1. Using a bundle software such as XAMPP (Apache Friends).
2. Installing APACHE 2.2 / PHP5 manually.
3. Installing APACHE/PHP 5 through the MSI installer.

We will be focusing on installing APACHE/PHP5 on your local machine (Windows XP) with the MSI installer. Though it is most preferable to manually configure Apache / PHP5 this is a beginner tutorial to get you up and running. Hey i used to be a complete noob too so take it from me, it’s better to start off small and then build your way up. I will post another tutorial on installing manually in the next couple of weeks. Lets begin shall we?

1. STEP 1: Start by getting all the resources for the installation. By resources i mean all the downloads from the APACHE and PHP Websites. Goto the Apache Website (http://httpd.apache.org – ScreenShot 1) – and download the Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer) (http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi – ScreenShot 2).
   
   
2. STEP 2: Double Click on the MSI Installer Icon and you will be taken to the welcome screen . Take a moment to read it and click next.
3. STEP 3: Accept the terms of the license agreement and click next.
   
   
4. STEP 4: You will be prompted for various items pertinent to the server’s operation, including the Network Domain, Server Name, and Administrators Email address. If you know the information fill it in, otherwise just use localhost for the first two items, and put in your email address for the last. Keep for all users on Port 80, as a service Checked. This allows Apache to initialize on startup of your computer.
   
   
   
5. STEP 5: You will be prompted to select a setup type. For right now choose Typical.
   
   
6. STEP 6: Lastly you will be prompted for the destination folder. By default this is C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation, but you may choose install anywhere you like, just make sure you avoid spaces. Click install to complete the installation

Thats it for Apache. Easy wasn’t it? You should see an Apache icon in your system tray (Bottom Right).

Make sure that you stop and restart Apache to make sure it is running properly. If you fail to do so then later when you install PHP5 it won’t work.

1. STEP 1: Just as you did for the Apache Installation obtain all the resources from the PHP website (http://www.php.net). Make sure that you download the latest version of PHP 5 which is PHP 5.2.6.
2. STEP 2: Once downloaded Double Click the PHP-5.2.6 Win-32 Installer and you will see a welcome Screen.
   
   
3. STEP 3: Click Next and Agree to the Terms of the License.
   
   
4. STEP 4: You will be prompted to select the Web Server you wish to setup. Choose Apache 2.2x Module since you have already installed the Apache 2.2+ Server. Click Next.
   
   
5. STEP 5: In the Apache Confiuration Directory choose C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\, or the install directory where you installed Apache. Click Next and in the choose items to install prompt click next and install PHP on your machine.

Thats it for installing PHP 5.2.6 on your local computer using the MSI installer. Now its time to test and see if the installations actually worked.

Locate the directory where you installed Apache 2.2. By default that directory is C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation, but choose the location where you installed it if it was different than the default. Open that folder and look for a folder named htdocs.

Once you have navigated to that folder successfully open up a text editor such as Notepad or Notepad ++ and type in the these lines:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save the page as phpinfo.php in the htdocs folder where you installed Apache. The phpinfo() function offers a plethora of useful information pertinent to your php installation. Lastly open your browser and type: http://localhost/phpinfo.php and if all went well you should see this webpage appear in the browser.

If you are seeing error messages or nothing at all for the output it is duew to one or more of the following reasons:

• Apache was not started or restarted after the build process was complete.
• A typing error was introduced into the code in the phpinfo.php file. If a parse error message is resulting in the browers input, then this is almost certainly the case.
• Something went wrong during the build process. Consider rebuilding, carefully monitoring for errors.

If you navigate to your start menu, under the Apache HTTP Server 2 menu item you will see that you can test your configuration and monitor the service.

Notes: I have not touched on the php.ini file or the Apache httpd.conf files in this tutorial. In the next tutorial i will help you to understand these two files and how to use them to your advantage.