Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP (Practical)

There are many technologies that go into creating a successful modern web application, but few books that cover how to use them all together effectively. Practical PHP Web 2.0 Applications does just that - it marries together PHP and MySQL, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript/Ajax, covering how to create a cutting edge PHP web application from planning and design right up to final implementation. Application features covered include must haves such as search, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and more. Prelims......Page 1 Contents at a Glance......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 About the Author......Page 17 About the Technical Reviewer......Page 18 Who This Book Is For......Page 19 How This Book Is Structured......Page 20 Contacting the Author......Page 22 Application Planning and Design......Page 23 Database Connectivity......Page 24 Main Home Page and User Home Page......Page 25 Web Site Search......Page 26 PHPDoc-Style Commenting......Page 27 Maintainability and Extensibility......Page 29 Summary......Page 30 Web Server Setup......Page 31 Installing the Apache HTTP Server......Page 32 Installing PHP 5.2.3......Page 33 Data Storage Directory......Page 34 Full Directory Structure......Page 35 Installing the Zend Framework......Page 36 Creating a Virtual Host in Linux......Page 37 Setting Up the Database......Page 39 Using the Model-View-Controller Pattern......Page 40 Separating Application Logic from Presentation Logic......Page 41 Directing All Requests to index.php......Page 43 Introduction to the Zend_Controller Class......Page 44 How Requests Work with Zend_Controller......Page 45 Creating the IndexController......Page 47 Defining Application Settings......Page 49 Connecting to the Database......Page 51 The Smarty Template Engine......Page 52 Using a Metalanguage for Templates......Page 55 Downloading and Installing Smarty......Page 56 Automatic View Rendering with Zend_Controller......Page 58 Integrating Smarty with the Web Site Controllers......Page 61 Adding Logging Capabilities......Page 63 Writing to the Log File......Page 65 Summary......Page 66 Creating the User Database Table......Page 67 Timestamps......Page 69 User Profiles......Page 70 Introduction to Zend_Auth......Page 71 Instantiating Zend_Auth......Page 72 Authenticating with Zend_Auth......Page 74 Introduction to Zend_Acl......Page 76 A Zend_Acl Example......Page 77 Combining Zend_Auth, Zend_Acl, and Zend_ Controller_Front......Page 79 Managing User Records with DatabaseObject......Page 83 The DatabaseObject_User Class......Page 84 Using DatabaseObject_User......Page 86 Managing User Profiles......Page 88 Using Profile_User......Page 89 Integrating Profile_User with DatabaseObject_User......Page 91 Summary......Page 94 Adding User Registration to the Application......Page 95 The Initial FormProcessor_UserRegistration Class......Page 96 Adding Username Validation to FormProcessor_UserRegistration......Page 99 Validating the User’s Name......Page 100 Validating the User’s E-mail Address......Page 101 The Complete FormProcessor_UserRegistration Class......Page 102 The Initial AccountController Class......Page 103 Developing the Templates......Page 104 Handling the Form Submission......Page 108 Adding CAPTCHA to the User Registration Form......Page 110 CAPTCHA and Accessibility......Page 111 Generating a CAPTCHA Image......Page 112 Adding the CAPTCHA Image to the Registration Form......Page 115 Adding E-mail Functionality......Page 117 Implementing Account Login and Logout......Page 122 Creating the Login Template......Page 123 Adding the Account Controller Login Action......Page 124 Logging Successful and Failed Login Attempts......Page 127 Logging Users Out of Their Accounts......Page 129 Dealing with Forgotten Passwords......Page 130 Resetting a User’s Password......Page 131 Functions for Resetting Passwords......Page 134 Creating the Account Home Page......Page 138 Updating the Web Site Navigation......Page 140 Allowing Users to Update Their Details......Page 142 Summary......Page 143 Downloading and Installing Prototype......Page 145 The $() Function......Page 146 The getElementsByClassName() Function......Page 147 The $$() Function......Page 150 Prototype’s Hash Object......Page 151 Other Element Extensions......Page 152 Managing Classes of Elements......Page 153 Manipulating Strings with Prototype......Page 155 Ajax Request Options......Page 156 Ajax Callback Functions......Page 157 JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)......Page 160 An Ajax.Request Example......Page 162 Handling XML Data from an Ajax Request......Page 163 Handling XML That Isn’t Well Formed......Page 164 The Complete Ajax.Request Example......Page 165 Observing an Event......Page 167 Finding Out Which Element an Event Occurred On......Page 168 Creating a Class......Page 169 Binding Function Calls to Objects......Page 170 Prebuilt Controls......Page 173 Visual Effects......Page 174 JavaScript Unit Testing......Page 175 Combining Prototype, Scriptaculous, Ajax, and PHP in a Useful Example......Page 176 Creating the Main HTML Page: index.php......Page 178 Styling the Application: styles.css......Page 179 Creating and Populating the Database: schema.sql......Page 180 Connecting to the Database......Page 181 Processing and Saving the List Order......Page 182 Processing Ajax Requests on the Server Side: processor.php......Page 183 Handling the Load Action......Page 184 Initializing the Application with init()......Page 185 Updating the Status Container with setStatus()......Page 186 Loading the List of Items with loadItems()......Page 187 Handling the Response from the Ajax Request in loadItems()......Page 188 Handling a Change to the List Order with saveItemOrder()......Page 189 Handling the Response from the Ajax Request in saveItemOrder()......Page 190 Summary......Page 191 Adding Page Titles and Breadcrumbs......Page 193 The Breadcrumbs Class......Page 194 Generating URLs......Page 196 Generating URLs in Controller Actions......Page 197 Generating URLs in Smarty Templates......Page 198 Setting the Title and Trail for Each Controller Action......Page 200 Creating a Smarty Plug-In to Output Breadcrumbs......Page 202 Displaying the Page Title......Page 204 Integrating the Design into the Application......Page 205 Creating the Static HTML......Page 206 Moving the HTML Markup into Smarty Templates......Page 210 Modifying header.tpl......Page 211 Modifying footer.tpl......Page 212 Highlighting the Active Navigation Section......Page 213 Specifying Media Types and Loading the CSS File......Page 214 Creating the Three-Column Layout......Page 215 Styling the Tabbed Navigation Bar......Page 217 Styling the Page Content......Page 219 Creating a Print-Only Style Sheet......Page 220 Modifying the Screen Style Sheet......Page 221 The Full Application Style Sheet......Page 223 Styling the Application Web Forms......Page 226 Loading Prototype and Scriptaculous......Page 229 Implementing Client-Side Form Validation......Page 230 Modifying the Form Processor......Page 231 Modifying the Registration Controller Action......Page 232 Returning Form Errors Using JSON......Page 233 Creating the JavaScript Form Validator......Page 234 Hiding Form Errors......Page 235 Handling the Form Submission......Page 236 Handling the Form Validation Response......Page 237 Loading the UserRegistrationForm Class......Page 238 Summary......Page 239 Creating the Database Tables......Page 241 Creating the DatabaseObject_BlogPost Class......Page 243 Extending the Application Permissions......Page 245 The BlogmanagerController Actions......Page 247 Linking to Blog Manager......Page 248 Creating the Blog Post Submission Form Template......Page 250 Instantiating FormProcessor_BlogPost in editAction()......Page 253 Implementing the FormProcessor_BlogPost Class......Page 255 Generating a Permanent Link to a Blog Post......Page 262 Filtering Submitted HTML......Page 265 Why Filter Embedded JavaScript?......Page 266 Implementing the cleanHtml() Method......Page 267 Creating a New Blog Post......Page 269 Previewing Blog Posts......Page 270 Implementing the Preview Template......Page 271 Requesting Confirmation for User Actions......Page 274 Completing setstatusAction()......Page 276 Notifying the User......Page 278 Adding FlashMessenger to CustomControllerAction......Page 279 Writing Messages to FlashMessenger......Page 280 Outputting FlashMessenger Messages on the Web Site......Page 281 Summary......Page 284 Listing Blog Posts on the Blog Manager Index......Page 287 Creating the _GetBaseQuery() Method......Page 288 Creating the GetPosts() Function......Page 291 Retrieving a Monthly Summary of Posts......Page 294 Assigning Recent Posts and the Monthly Summary to the Template......Page 296 Displaying Recent Posts in the Template......Page 298 Displaying the Monthly Summary......Page 301 Calling the Smarty Plug-in in the Side Columns......Page 302 Ajaxing the Blog Monthly Summary......Page 305 Creating the Ajax Request Output......Page 306 The BlogMonthlySummary JavaScript Class......Page 307 Notifying the User About the Content Update......Page 309 Managing Message Containers......Page 310 Updating the Messages Container with BlogMonthlySummary......Page 311 Integrating a WYSIWYG Editor......Page 313 Downloading and Installing FCKeditor......Page 314 Configuring FCKeditor......Page 315 Loading FCKeditor in the Blog Editing Page......Page 316 Summary......Page 318 Controlling User Settings......Page 319 Presenting Customizable Settings to Users......Page 320 Processing Changes to User Settings......Page 321 Creating Default User Settings......Page 323 The UserController Class......Page 324 Creating a New Route......Page 325 Injecting the Route into the Router......Page 326 Dynamically Generating URLs for Custom Routes......Page 327 Generating Other Required Routes......Page 329 Handling Requests to UserController......Page 331 Displaying the Blog Index Page......Page 335 Implementing the indexAction() Method......Page 336 Displaying Blog Posts on the User Home Page......Page 337 Displaying Individual Blog Posts......Page 340 Implementing the viewAction() Method......Page 341 Displaying the Blog Post Details......Page 343 Generating Blog Archive Links......Page 344 Implementing the archiveAction() Method......Page 346 Loading Recent Public Posts......Page 348 Implementing the Application Home Page......Page 349 Loading Multiple User Records......Page 350 Retrieving the Latest Posts for the Home Page......Page 352 Creating the Application Home Page Template......Page 353 Summary......Page 355 Implementing Web 2.0 Features......Page 357 Implementing Tagging......Page 358 Managing Blog Post Tags......Page 362 Displaying a User’s Tags on Their Blog......Page 366 Retrieving Posts Based on a Tag......Page 369 Routing Requests to the Tag Space......Page 370 Handling Requests to the Tag Space......Page 371 Outputting the Tag Space......Page 372 Web Feeds......Page 373 Creating an Atom Feed with Zend_Feed......Page 374 Adding the Feed to UserController......Page 375 Linking to Your Feed......Page 377 Other Feed Options......Page 379 An Example of Using Microformats......Page 380 Why Use Microformats?......Page 382 The Firefox Operator Plug-In......Page 383 Microformatting Your Tags......Page 384 Allowing Users to Create a Public Profile......Page 385 Processing the User Details Form......Page 386 Displaying the User Profile Options......Page 387 Displaying a User’s Profile......Page 388 Summary......Page 391 A Dynamic Image Gallery......Page 393 Storing Uploaded Files......Page 394 Controlling Uploaded Images with DatabaseObject......Page 395 Uploading Files......Page 396 Adding the Form......Page 397 Specifying the File Input Type......Page 399 Setting the Maximum File Size......Page 400 Creating the Blog Manager Action Handler......Page 401 Creating the Image-Upload Form Processor......Page 402 Writing Files to the Filesystem......Page 406 Sending Images......Page 409 Creating Thumbnails......Page 412 Determining the Width and Height of the Thumbnail......Page 413 Determining the Input and Output Functions......Page 414 Generating the Thumbnail Filename......Page 415 Creating the Thumbnail......Page 416 Linking the Thumbnailer to the Image Action Handler......Page 417 Generating Image Filenames......Page 418 Updating imageAction() to Serve the Thumbnail......Page 420 Automatically Loading Blog Post Images......Page 421 Displaying Images on the Post Preview......Page 423 Deleting Blog Post Images......Page 425 Modifying the PHP Deletion Code......Page 428 Creating the BlogImageManager JavaScript Class......Page 429 Loading BlogImageManager in the Post Preview......Page 432 Deleting Images when Posts Are Deleted......Page 433 Saving the Order to Database......Page 434 Adding Sortable to BlogImageManager......Page 436 Extending the GetPosts() Function......Page 439 Displaying Thumbnail Images on the Blog Index......Page 440 Displaying Images on the Blog Details Page......Page 442 Displaying Larger Images with Lightbox......Page 444 Loading Lightbox on the Blog Details Page......Page 445 Linking the Blog Post Images to Lightbox......Page 446 Summary......Page 447 Introduction to Zend_Search_Lucene......Page 449 Comparison to MySQL Full-Text Indexing......Page 450 Zend_Search_Lucene Field Types......Page 451 Indexing Application Content......Page 452 Creating a New Zend_Search_Lucene_Document......Page 453 Retrieving the Index Location......Page 455 Building the Entire Index......Page 456 Indexing and Unindexing a Single Blog Post......Page 457 Adding a Single Blog Post to the Index......Page 458 Removing a Blog Post from the Index......Page 460 When a Post Is Created......Page 461 When a Post Is Deleted......Page 462 When a Post’s Tags Are Changed......Page 463 Adding the Search Form......Page 464 Handling Search Requests......Page 465 Querying the Search Index......Page 466 Displaying Search Results......Page 470 Types of Searches......Page 473 Providing Search Suggestions......Page 474 Creating an Action Handler to Return Search Results......Page 475 Retrieving Search Suggestions......Page 476 Displaying Search Suggestions......Page 479 Adding Mouse Navigation to Results......Page 482 Adding Keyboard Navigation to Results......Page 484 Summary......Page 489 Geocoding......Page 491 Map Controls......Page 492 Map Overlays......Page 493 Limitations of Google Maps......Page 495 Creating a Google Maps API Key......Page 496 Creating the DatabaseObject_BlogPostLocation Class......Page 497 Modifying Blog Posts to Load Locations......Page 499 Creating Our First Map......Page 500 Creating a New Blog Manager Controller Action......Page 501 Linking to the locationsAction() Function......Page 502 Loading the Google Maps API......Page 503 Beginning the BlogLocationManager JavaScript Class......Page 505 Loading BlogLocationManager......Page 507 Handling Location Management Ajax Requests......Page 509 The New Location Form Processor......Page 510 Creating the locationsManage Controller Action......Page 511 Creating the Address Lookup Form......Page 514 Required Methods......Page 515 Class Initialization......Page 517 The loadMap() Function......Page 518 The zoomAndCenterMap() Function......Page 519 Adding Locations with addMarkerToMap()......Page 520 Removing Markers Using removeMarkerFromMap()......Page 522 Displaying Saved Locations with loadLocationsSuccess()......Page 523 Handling the Add Location Form Submission......Page 524 Handling the Geocoder Response with createPoint()......Page 525 Saving New Coordinates for Dragged Locations......Page 527 Removing Markers from the Map......Page 528 Unloading the Map......Page 529 Using BlogLocationManager......Page 530 Outputting Locations Using the Geo Microformat......Page 531 Creating the BlogLocations Class......Page 533 Updating the Blog Post Display Template......Page 536 Summary......Page 538 Creating the Log Writer......Page 541 Adding the EmailLogger Writer to Zend_Log......Page 544 Using Application Logs......Page 545 Site Error Handling......Page 546 Notifying the User of Errors......Page 548 Catching Errors......Page 549 Application Runtime Errors......Page 553 Creating the Error Display Templates......Page 556 User Management......Page 557 Implementing Administration......Page 558 Creating the AdminController Class......Page 559 Different Configurations for Different Servers......Page 560 Telling the Bootstrap Which Configuration to Use......Page 561 Deploying Application Files with Rsync......Page 564 Exporting a Database......Page 565 Importing a Database......Page 566 Summary......Page 567 Index......Page 569

Want to assert yourself as a cutting–edge PHP web developer? Take a practical approach, learning by example from author Quentin Zervaas, and discover how to bring together the many technologies needed to create a successful, modern web application.

In Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP, PHP, MySQL, CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript/Ajax development techniques are brought together to show you how to create the hottest PHP web applications, from planning and design up to final implementation, without going over unnecessary basics that will hold you back. This book includes must–have application features such as search functionality, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and personalized user areas. The Zend Framework is used extensively to build the application, allowing you to focus on developing the application rather than on reinventing the wheel.

Topics covered include application planning and design, setting up the application framework, using CSS for easier styling, adding dynamic effects the easy way using JavaScript libraries such as Prototype and script.aculo.us, and implementing several must–have web application features such as user login, blogs, dynamic image galleries, search functionality, mapping with Google Maps, and much more. Zervaas covers everything in a practical, tutorial style so you can start working on your own projects as quickly as possible.

• Create cutting–edge PHP/MySQL web applications
• Implement must–have functionality such as blogs, maps, search functionality, and dynamic image galleries
• Master styling with CSS and dynamic effects using Ajax/JavaScript libraries

What you’ll learn

• How to set up the perfect PHP/MySQL application development environment
• How to implement basic user management functionality
• How to use many of the components from the Zend Framework
• How to effectively make use of the Prototype and script.aculo.us JavaScript libraries, including many examples of developing custom JavaScript classes
• How to create standards–compliant and accessible HTML code and effectively style it using CSS
• How to create a basic blog system and enhance it with Ajax
• How to add personalized user areas to your web application
• How to create a dynamic image gallery
• How to add search functionality to your application
• How to use the Google Maps API to add maps to your application
• How to implement popular Web 2.0 features, such as microformats, tags, and web feeds

Who this book is for

This book is for any PHP developer who wants to stay ahead of the curve, with practical, high–level web application development techniques.

In this book PHP, MySQL, CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript/Ajax development techniques are brought together to show you how to create the hottest PHP web applications, from planning and design up to final implementation, without going over unnecessary basics that will hold you back. This book includes must-have application features such as search functionality, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and personalized user areas. The Zend Framework is used extensively to build the application, allowing you to focus on developing the application rather than on reinventing the wheel