On PHPMaster.com today there's a new tutorial showing the use of a sometimes overlooked (but very handy) alternate syntax that PHP includes - the ternary operator, a short-hand if/else.

You're probably already familiar with PHP's if statement. It's very similar to its counterparts in many other programming languages and represents one of the most fundamental concepts in programming. [...] But there's a way to build on this concept and increase your $coolFactor a bit in the process. Allow me to introduce you to the ternary operator, which serves as a shorthand notation for if statements.

They introduce the ternary operator's syntax, the ":" and "?" operators and includes a few pieces of code showing its use. Thankfully they also include a warning - don't overuse or abuse it...and especially don't nest them - that just leads to headaches.