Hey guys, I just recently came across this board through a link from Pixel2life's tutorial list, been lurking for a couple of days and thought I'd sign up to start learning from, and chatting with, all you guys.


I've been coding in PHP for 3 years, and I was thrust WAY into the deep end when I first started, I got took on by a company even though the knew I had less than 3 months' experience with PHP (I had around a year's worth of experience coding in Visual Basic, 4 years HTML, but I was NOT a PHP programmer) - I will tell you this, if you could see the code to the first site I made with this company you would bitch slap me EVERYWHERE. Just terrible, but man did it help put a rocket up my arse and I progressed and I'm currently at a comfortable level of mediocrity. I spent 2 years at Lancaster University studying Computer Science, I dropped out in April because of deep depression and personal issues, I'm currently on the up, completely poor but content which is something I'm extremely grateful for, and I do NOT regret leaving Lancaster to return home. Through that time I spent 2 years studying Java, which really got me to buck my ideas up about OOP and I've progressed quite well I think, I'm still an 'average Joe' coder and hopefully with the help of this place I'll really start digging in and writing 'proper' code

I've played guitar for nearly 7 years now and it's something I love doing, I also studied Music Technology in college and I enjoy working on recording local bands and running sound at some small gigs, nothing major and I'll never consider it career material but I really do love it!

I have worked on quite a few sites in my time but it's all mostly basic PHP and MySQL stuff, I really want to try my hands at some more complex sites that would need OOP and some more advanced PHP code, just to see how I handle it.

Anyway, sorry I've rambled more than enough, just want to say thanks for being a FANTASTIC community and knowledge base, major kudos to everyone involved with TalkPHP!

Hola Scott! You wouldn't believe how much we appreciate such fantastic introductions, that give an overview of somebody's character as well. To TalkPHP we may just be usernames, but to all the people that make up this beautiful community, we like to see the human-sides!

I can relate to your story about being thrust in at the deep-end. I too was given a job in PHP when I was about 18 that I certainly wasn't qualified for, but I continued to learn every single day, and become an invaluable member of the team!

It was a great place to work as it was run by two guys who had met at university, and decided to start a web-development company together. Dinner times would often consist of playing football outside behind the offices. It never seemed like work, because every day we would bring in some sweets to munch on -- we'd put on our best clothes when clients were expected that day, and the other days we might as well have been in our pyjamas!

I think I should skip the days in which clients turned up unannounced. They weren't the proudest moments for the company!

I then decided to leave for university, and very much like you, I didn't last the duration because I realised it just wasn't for me. I was doing art and design at the art college in Norwich. I had a lovely time when I was in Norwich, and it was my first prolonged duration away from home. Naturally that really helped my independence!

I was born in Nottingham, moved to Norwich for university, and now I live in Manchester, and have done for approximately a year now -- not too far from you over in Liverpool!

Recently I purchased an acoustic guitar to begin learning. I really prefer to finger-pick the strings because I am not too fond of the sound of an acoustic guitar when it is strummed. Personal preference, I suppose! When I was younger my grandma had a piano in her back-room, and I would quite often find myself hammering down on the keys. But also keeping my ears wide open for a sound I loved.

I think the times on the piano, and also the simple music I like, helps contribute to my preference of distinctive and sometimes simplistic tunes. They can be ever so effective when you find a perfect melody!

There's a little background on me I hope you become an active member at TalkPHP, as your first post makes me smile! It is what we're all about here.

Incidentally: Is that the Opeth symbol in your avatar? I don't listen to them any more, but I did when I was younger.

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The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.

Hey thanks a lot!

I love how you guys value the community spirit, its evident in the way questions are handled and answers are appreciated, I admin on a guitar forum that reminds me of this place, kind people, great staff and that warm 'aura' a nice community seems to have when you log in

I love Nottingham, only been once, but had a GREAT night out there, The Pit and Pendulum is a great bar! I find myself in Manchester quite a bit to see gigs but never explored the city much, really nice place though, I see PHP jobs crop up in Manchester quite often but just can't commit to moving away or commuting that far right now, been job searching since April and it's not going well at ALL! But I'm just happy to be home and I'm learning so much more coding techniques than I was at University, hopefully things will all click together if I get myself employed

I LOVE piano, started learning when I was 11 (nearly a decade ago =O ) I rarely play at all now I've picked up guitar, but I was playing Mozart and Bach by the time I was 14, I think I had good potential but MAN, just the sound of a guitar was enough to move me to switch, now I can play Bach and Mozart on guitar, so I guess I've worked my way in some weird circle, eh?

I get what you're saying about finger-picking acoustics, I love the purity of the sound, plus you're touching the guitar with both hands, not a bit of plastic in your right hand, it's a full connection with the instrument and there's something in that I'm sure! I have well over £2,000 worth of electric guitar equipment, but I write all my music on a £50 acoustic and spice it up afterwards, so you're on the right track, if you can do something on an acoustic it's 3x easier on electric, mark my words

I love how you put that 'distinctive and sometimes simplistic tunes' - totally understand and they're usually the most moving and 'honest' songs out there, I think sometimes a song can really lose its charm if its over-thought.

I definitely plan on sticking around for sure! If I can contribute to answering some simple questions I'll be sure to do so, and I'm sure I'll have a few questions when I run into problems so it's cool to have such a cool place to hang about

And yep it's Opeth! I have that symbol tattooed on my chest, I'm a massive fan (Although I wouldn't say they were my favourite band ever, I have a Led Zeppelin tatt and a Coheed and Cambria one ) just an unbelievable band that takes me to some awesome places

Nice getting to know you mate, thanks for the really cool welcome

What an introduction!

I started working with PHP well before I was competent, but my employer who was a personal friend was aware of this and just wanted to get me coding something professionally (he later admitted he threw the code out). I only did a few hours a week for him at that time. Even when I began freelancing I probably wasn't that great, although I thought I was. Everyone does this, it is quite normal.

I know a lot of guitar (nine years) and music theory from childhood, my mother was intent that I would be finely educated as a musician. But I never really liked it that much, I stopped actively playing around the age of 17 when I didn't have to anymore. I do still play my Jackson DX-2 from time though.

Welcome to TalkPHP!

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Hi Scott and let me wish you a very warm welcome to TalkPHP. That is really quite a thorough introduction there and we appreciate getting to know our new members, to help them settle right in. On a geographical note, it's great to see another northern lad; there is a little concentration of us from around and about the North West, I live between Liverpool and Manchester!

Thanks a lot for the awesome warm welcome guys

I've only just noticed the Articles section of the site, absolutely fantastic, this is one of those places that makes you ask 'Where the hell have I been all my life to miss this?' - really exciting and inspirational reading here, I feel like I'm getting my fire back and I'm ready to start working on getting into more advanced code instead of resting on a level of 'acceptable mediocrity' if you will