PHP uses in website design

What could I use PHP in normal website design for? I already use the include function for my headers and footers, but besides that, what other elements could I make use of?

http://conorific.com

Hummmm.. Counters and such can be done in php. You can do sessions stuff but thats more advanced.

I'd say randomization would be a good thing to learn, it adds that "ooh something has changed" feel when you go to a page.

If you're including standardized HTML, I suggest you look at Server Side Includes (SSI). It is more efficient at such a simple task.

The question is, what can PHP not do? Countless times, I have found it can easily do what is dam difficult in VB Script (ASP).

Buy a decent PHP Cookbook and experiment. It won't take you long to start dreaming of new ideas.

This is classic, I love it!~ This was my motto back in San Antonio. Add a couple sysadmin names, through in a touch of Senior VP's with FrontPage obsession, and a huge break down of communication accross the whole company, and it was my life.

PHP has many uses. Statistics, dynamic page updates through consoles instead of html editors, dynamic graphs....oooohhh i love php..

Hope your site is back up soon.

Hey! Someone took time to quote my LJ AAAAAND reply to my post! Hell, I feel loved... <3

With the abundance of poor sites and bland content that is abundant on the web, it is neat to find those rare items that demand attention and recognition. hehe...

One killer use of php: photo gallery.

Using php and arrays you can make a photo gallery with "top page", "next picture", "previous picture" without connecting to a database, making separate pages for each image, or even caring about naming conventions for your files. This program could work for an unlimited amount of galleries. All you have to do is point it to different folders.

Point to the folder you want to look in for pictures. $folder = "summer_vacation". Have php open the folder and throw each of the image names and extensions into an array. Have php output the names into a clean table (maybe three thumbnails per row) with links to a closer view. Once you click the link, have php load the file and read in the files from the directory to tell you which picture is next and previous and make links accordingly.

I know, confusing. I'm not showing how to do this very clearly, but it's quite easy to do if you just mess around and try.

This is just one thing, but it sure beats the heck out of manually making photo pages with html. Using PHP and CSS together, you can make wickedly smart and fast pages.

I've also used PHP and mySQL to make my own guestbooks, forums, Japan's #1 classifieds system, and more. Many programs you make with PHP will be similar to programs you've made in the past (after you get some experience), so save your code and it'll save you a ton of time. Recycle your code. Custom make everything, but reuse what you can.

It sounds like you're just scratching the surface with php. Includes are useful, but there's so much more. Good luck to you.