Creative Uses For PHP
If you are familiar with PHP, you might be wondering how you can use it to create a more appealing website, or add some innovatively creative features to your existing website. The possibilities with PHP are endless and the best part is you can write your own PHP script or use one from the widely available ones from around the internet.
1. E-Commerce
One of the most popular uses for PHP is e-commerce. Small or medium businesses, all of them are looking forward to boosting up their revenue stream through adequate online measures. If you know how to use PHP scripts to create an e-commerce solution for your business, you have substantial competitive leverage.
If you are looking forward to building your own shopping cart, you can do that by either creating the entire PHP code from scratch or by using a PHP framework.
2. Graphical User Interface
If you have excellent PHP skills, you can use them to create desktop applications. This might seem challenging as it requires in-depth knowledge of PHP and it might be easier to create applications using other languages. However, if PHP is your favorite language, then you can use some of the widely available PHP extensions to create an innovative GUI.
Creating your own PHP GUI allows you to discover the creative side of PHP and learn a lot more about it.
3. Facebook Applications
One of the most creative uses for PHP is that you can use the language to create interesting Facebook applications. If you have created Facebook applications earlier using another language then it will be easier for you to come up with even more creative ideas using PHP.
4. PHP Photo Gallery
If you have the basic knowledge about PHP and you have some skills to back up your efforts, you can create a photo gallery to be used on your website. It is really simple, and you can begin by storing all your photos in a single directory, then you can use the ‘exif’ function in PHP to get information about the photos and output a thumbnail version of the image. The process is simple, straightforward and you can get as creative as you want.
5. Creating Dynamic Website Templates
Using PHP you can make it a lot easier to add dynamic elements to your website. You can begin simply by creating the HTML page with all of its headers and footers in place, add the PHP extension to your subsequent pages and use server-side for the header and footer for each new page. Additionally, you can have dynamic sidebars and top navigation sections.
There is a large number of other creative uses for PHP like creating Flash content, or WordPress plug-ins, content management systems and image processing and generation systems. If you have some basic knowledge about PHP, you can come up with the most creative ideas. Moreover, if you have experience designing applications and websites using other programming languages, you will find it easier to use PHP, and you can monetize on your skills and ideas!