I don't want to get into a bottom vs top posting debate. Just know that some
of us prefer top posting. There's no right/wrong answer to this.

Trimming is always good, though.

I second the recommendations for this mailing list as a good source (as well
as reading what's posted and seeing if you know or can find out the answer)
as well as php.net. The online documentation has tons of great code
examples.

The best way to learn is really by doing. Think of a project or exercise
you'd like to try and see if you can do it in PHP.

One of the best things you can learn as you go, is when it's appropriate to
use PHP and when it isn't. Sometimes you can solve your problems with
simple HTML. PHP can be useful in many situations, though. Simple
situations to some very complex ones.

Also, if you come from a programming background, chances are PHP will
accomodate whatever programming style you're used to but also remember that
there are so many pre-made functions in PHP to do so many things, you may
end up discovering that a function you thought you had to write could be
done with a simple PHP command.

I worked with a guy once who came from a C programming background. He wrote
many functions that he didn't need to because he assumed PHP was as sparse
as a "real programming language".

At any rate, you'll learn tons as you go along and probably look back at your
early efforts and say "What was I thinking?". Don't worry about it, comes
with the territory.

-TG

----- Original Message -----
From: Wolf <lonewolf@nc.rr.com>
To: Gary <gwpaul@ptd.net>
Cc: php-general@lists.php.net
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:18:08 -0400
Subject: Re: [php] New to PHP

>
> ---- Gary <gwpaul@ptd.net> wrote:
> > Well...thank you all for the warm and friendly welcome, I will probably
try
> > to steer one of my projects to php (or at least a portion of) in a short
> > while.
> >
> <!-- SNIP -->
>
> Gary, one thing to keep in mind is to BOTTOM POST and TRIM your posts.
>
> By Bottom Posting (common when on a mailing list or NG) it gives greater
context as you read through the previous posts and by the time of getting
to where the new response is, it is in sync. No skipping back and forth to
read to get the context.
>
> Trimming is appropriate when addressing a specific entry or when cutting
off Dan's 12 line signature block to reply to a message.
>
> And yeah, you'll find a number of us aren't as serious as others may like.

>
> Welcome to the list. I also keep www.php.net handy and a general rule of
thumb when using Firefox if you have the google search plug-in running is
to use "php: <question>" where <question> is what you are looking to do.
By prefacing the search with php: google tends to give greater responses
since it looks for PHP first and then the question.
>
> HTH.
> Wolf

[snip]
I don't want to get into a bottom vs top posting debate. Just know that
some of us prefer top posting. There's no right/wrong answer to this.
[/snip]

Consider how this would read if I posted above your entry.

But I have trimmed quite nicely thank you!

On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 11:45 AM, TG <tg-php@gryffyndevelopment.com> wrote:
> I don't want to get into a bottom vs top posting debate. Just know that some
> of us prefer top posting. There's no right/wrong answer to this.

There is no debate. There is a right and wrong answer. Sometimes
people just need a refresher.

http://www.php.net/reST/php-src/READ...LINGLIST_RULES

QUOTE:
3. Do not top post. Place your answer underneath anyone you wish to
quote and remove any previous comment that is not relevant to your
post.

This is also addressed in the "Netiquette" RFC (1855).

--
</Daniel P. Brown>
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