In a new post to his blog David Dudok de Wit has a mini-tutorial on how to get you your PHP script connected with SharePoint to add new items to a list (based on an earlier post of his).

If you read my previous post (Reading a SharePoint list with PHP) you'll notice that the code is very similar. In fact, only the CAML query (which is contained in the SOAP request) and the Lists method has changed. Once again, I recommend following this simple guideline when coding a SharePoint application from PHP or Java.

He lists two resources that can help you get started on formatting the queries and some code that, using NuSOAP (yes, use can use PHP's SOAP extension too), connects to the remote SharePoint server and pushes across a SOAP message (XML) to update the given list's items.

PHPBuilder.com has posted what they consider to be the top five content management systems written in PHP including Drupal and Joomla.

With solutions such as the Zend Framework and CodeIgniter making it easier than ever to create complex web applications, it can be tempting to flex your developer muscles and create custom framework-based solutions whenever the opportunity arises. However, the PHP community has also made great strides with another type of web development solution, as the content management system (CMS).

He looks at some of the key features of each and points out some of the more popular sites using them as a backend. He wants to give you a starting point to look into:

• Drupal
• ExpressionEngine
• Joomla
• Silverstripe
• WordPress

Raphael Stolt has a new post to his blog today looking at how you can use the Zend_Service_Twitter component of the Zend Framework to work with the lists on Twitter.

While debating some use cases for an event registration application I stumbled upon an interesting feature, which adds participants automatically to a Twitter list upon registration. [...] This post will show how this feature can be implemented by utilizing the Zend_Service_Twitter component, and how it then can be used in a Zend Framework based application.

The Zend_Service_Twitter component makes it simple to interact with Twitter's API and calling the lists part of the API is a snap. His script first checks to see if a list exists, creates it if it doesn't and will add a user to it when they're registering. The class also includes the usual delete and modify functionality for both the users in the list and the lists themselves.

He finishes with a simple form that uses his interface class to take in the person's twitter username and send it off to the service.

On the PHPClasses.org blog today there's a new post from Manuel Lemos looking at user groups - how to keep them alive and what you can do to rekindle a faltering group.

PHP was spread by its users. Over time PHP user groups have been doing an extraordinary job in promoting the PHP communities everywhere, so local PHP users get more support in their local idiom and progress faster in their careers as PHP developers. Many PHP user groups organize meetings and events that help PHP users learning more and make valuable contacts that they often use to get in touch with more experienced and helpful PHP developers.

He mentions a big challenge for keeping groups alive - leadership shifts and dwindling membership - and something the PHPClasses site offers to help advertize groups all around the world. If you're looking for a group in your area (most of the coverage seems outside of the US right now) try their user group directory.

In a recent post from Jeez.eu they look at some of the PHP certifications offered by various companies all over the web:

Becoming a certified PHP developer, does not mean that you become a better developer but, it can surely give you some more chances to get the job. We tried to do a little research about PHP certifications, where to get one, what it takes to get one and why you need it. We also tried to find some online tests for you in order to prepare yourself before you actually go for it.

There's five certifications in their list:

• the Zend certification (ZCE and ZFCE)
• a certification offered from W3 Schools
• A test from Brainbench
• ExpertRating's exam
• the O'Reilly School of Technology

New on the Internet Super Hero blog today Ulf Wendel has a huge post with a complete listing of all one hundred and twenty different kinds of statistics that the mysqlnd driver for PHP can gather during its connections:

This is about twice as much as it was when I blogged about the 59 tuning screws for mysqlnd. While the basics have not not changed and the API calls for accessing the data remained the same (see previous posting) the new figures have never been described before.

Each of the items on the list is described and some include some sample use cases. Here's just a few:

• packets_sent, packets_received
• bytes_received_eof_packets, packets_received_eof
• bytes_received_rset_field_meta_packet, packets_received_rset_field_metabytes_received_change_user_packet, packets_received_change_user
• result_set_queries
• slow_queries
• flushed_normal_sets, flushed_ps_sets
• rows_fetched_from_client_ps_cursor
• connect_success, connect_failure
• in_middle_of_command_close
• command_buffer_too_small

Chris Shiflett, after finding an old reference guide, has decided to share a few helpful hints from the guide to help you in your development.

While cleaning out my desk, I found an old copy of a PHP Quick Reference I helped make a few years ago. On the front page are a few performance and security tips that I thought I'd share. (Performance tips are from George Schlossnagle.)

The tips include topics like caching, using external data sources, filtering input using prepared statements and using pre-existing solutions before just rolling your own.

The PHP.net website has posted the official winner results from this year's TestFest event:

A group of winners of PHP elePHPhants or TestFest mugs have been picked at random from the people that contributed the 887 tests during the 2009 PHP TestFest.

Winners of the elePHPants included Patrick Allaert, Fabio Fabbrucci and Jason Easter. Winners receiving a mug including Havard Eide, Francesco Fullone, Daniel Convissor. Congrats to all winners and many thanks go out to everyone who helped make the event such a success!

On PHPFreaks.com they have a new "top ten" list of signs to look out for to tell if you're dealing with crappy software or not.

Like it or not, as a professional developer, sooner or later you are going to do some customising (if you are lucky, "extending") of existing software. If you are not familiar with the software, it is good advice to look into it before accepting the job. I had to learn that the hard way. But how do you recognize crappy applications without getting knee deep into the code?

Their list of signs include:

• The software tries to reinvent the object model, or "fix" language features.
• Scattered HTML and SQL
• Multiple levels of inheritance
• In the code base, there is a directory called "core"

The initial list of the speakers for this year's ZendCon conference has been posted. Speakers at this year's event include:

• Ed Finkler
• Sebastian Bergmann
• Jeff Moore
• Derick Rethans
• Chris Shiflett
• Aaron Wormus
• Andrei Zmievski

And many more - check out the full list to see what you can expect for this year's ZendCon!