Web Developer Articles & Author Information

Below you will find a list of this website's articles and other informational pieces organized by category. Some of these are very popular, while others are just for fun. If you find anything on this website that you feel should not be here, is incorrect, or if you feel that something is missing, please send me a message with your comments/suggestions. The items you will find within this site are mostly pieces that I had developed while doing research for web development projects. Many of the items here are still in use by me in various ways.

I am a lurker (and sometimes and active member) of a few usenet groups like comp.lang.php as well as some php-related mailing lists. I sometimes participate in the Twin Cities PHP User Group (TCPHP), but have yet to make it to a monthly meeting mainly because of the 200+ mile drive. (Anyone here up north want to start a php user group?)

Even though I had spent a few years as an independent web developer, I have spent the past seven years as a full-time web developer. I recently accepted a new job at a private real estate company doing web development. I still do some projects on the side (smaller ones), but my schedule has been pretty booked over the past few months between work and other presonal projects (aside from this site). For those of you that may be interested, I do have an online resume available.

On June 20th, 2005, I passed the Zend PHP Certification Exam; therefore, I am officially a Zend Certified Engineer. There are now nine ZCE's in Minnesota (I was the fourth), and I am the only not to be in the metro/southern area of the state (see for yourself).

• PHP

  • PHP work-around for Microsoft Internet Explorer's transparent PNG handicap

    This page explains how to make PNG-24 images with transparency work correctly when viewing with Internet Explorer 5+ using PHP to create a server-side solution. Includes PHP code.

    Last Updated: 8/5/2005

  • HTTP Authentication With PHP & htpasswd

    A brief description and demonstration of using PHP with Apache's basic HTTP authentication to validate users with passwords. This method allows for authentication on single files rather than whole directories.

    Last update: 1/14/2006

  • Watermarking PNG and JPEG Images with PHP and GD2

    This demonstration page allows you to watermark a JPEG or PNG image by providing the image and choosing options from a from.

  • Filling PDF form fields with HTML forms and PHP

    An example on using submitted HTML form values to create an XFDF or FDF file. The XFDF or FDF file can then be opened by a PDF viewer like Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill in the fields in a PDF file.

    Last Updated: 9/08/2006 New sample code for features (email, send to browser) added as well as the XFDF file format.

  • Manual Registration of PHP Global Variables

    A method for manually registering global variables in PHP rather than trusting server settings for register_globals, gpc_order and variables_order.

  • PHP $_SERVER Superglobal Comparison

    A comparison of the defined keys in PHP's superglobal $_SERVER array running on Apache & IIS servers.

  • PHP Word Scrambler

    Simple little PHP function handy for April 1st. The old "Aoccdrnig to a rsecheearr at an Elingsh uinervtisy..." tactic.

• Javascript

  • TTW WYSIWYG Web Editor

    This "through the web" wysiwyg editor works with Gecko engine web browsers (Mozilla, Netscape, FireFox, etc.) as well as with MSIE 5+. Includes OO Javascript and HTML code. Code last updated on 2/24/2005.

    Last Updated: 9/12/2006

    The beta version also includes some functionality for Safari (412) and language translations.

    Last Updated: 9/12/2006

  • Creating An Image Crop Area

    A javascript tool that works with Gecko engine web browsers (Mozilla, Netscape 6+, FireFox, etc.) as well as with MSIE 5+ and Opera. Includes Javascript and HTML code for making the selection as well as PHP code for cropping the image using GD2.

    Last updated on 5/11/2005.

• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

  • Nearly Pure CSS Menus With Multiple Levels

    My first entry for CSS content on my site. I had an itch to make a functional CSS-based drop-down menu so I could get rid of the Javascript system I was using. If you have a browser that isn't reported on that page, please let me know if/how it works, and what version your browser/os is.

    Last Updated: 4/27/2005

• Servers, Systems & Tools

  Since web developers often have to deal with different aspects of system configurations, I decided to start this section of articles. Everything that you find here are things that I have come across in my adventures. Some things may be trivial, and others may be a bit off-topic in relation to web development. However, I feel that it is necessary for me to make my findings public. If you find it here, then you can bet that it is something that I either had to piece together myself or I had found too many conflicting bits of information to deal with.

  • Webpage Rotation Viewer - WPRV

    A handy little utility for network administrators to rotate through pre-defined web pages on a cyclic timer much like a repeating slide show.

    Last Updated: 4/25/2007

  • Exim4 on Debian with SpamAssassin, ClamAV, Virtual Domain Alias Files and Message Size Limits per Domain

    A step-by-step HOWTO for setting up a mail server using Debian. I originally planned on just keeping this article in a safe place so I could reference it later; however, while searching for methods on how to do some of this stuff, I decided that someone else may benefit from it as well.

    Last Updated: 5/11/2006

  • Share NFS-Mounted NAS through Netatalk for Mac OS 9

    Attempting to share a network storage device with Macintosh clients running OS 9 or earlier? I was (Iomega NAS 100d), and after a few days of playing around, I managed to get it working!

    Last Updated: 9/13/2005

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

  I am by no means an expert at SEO. In fact, I am really just starting to scratch the surface. I am a programmer first, so my time is spent improving those skills. However, I do read up on some of the search engine optimization stuff and pick up pointers along the way. My goal is to have a programming/coding style that is firendly to search engines and SEO professionals. In doing so, my code becomes leaner, more efficient and easier to work with.

  I will occasionally run some tests and such under this section, but the SEO category on this site is really nothing more than a "junk drawer" of sorts. Any web content that I write and doesn't fit into a category related to web development help ends up here. Eventually, I may actually get into the whole SEO thing and provide meaningful information.

  • Web Developer Help

    This is simply an article that I had put together after reading a bunch of other conflicting articles. This started out as a testing area for me, but now it is just general considerations to keep in mind to try and help your website.

• Lending a Helping Hand

  In the event that you are more interested in help this website (and me) out directly, you could make a donation to help build my knowledge or resources for keeping this site running smoothly.