Tips

Tips for website development that may or may not have to do with Liaison

Docs

• htaccess
• Suggested Packages
• Organizing your site's code (and backups!)

htaccess

I just have my .htaccess route all requests to my deliver.php file.

If you have a separate static-files directory for css & javascript or images, you might change the htaccess to deliver those without using your PHP script, but honestly I just don't bother. For my solution for these static files, see Routes.

Example .htaccess (goes at the root of your server):

DirectoryIndex /deliver.php  
  
#php_value upload_max_filesize 10M  
#php_value post_max_size 13M  
  
RewriteEngine On  
  
  
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !=localhost  
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !=127.0.0.1  
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !=127.0.0.1  
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !=::1  
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off  
# First rewrite to HTTPS:  
# Don't put www. here. If it is already there it will be included, if not  
# the subsequent rule will catch it.  
RewriteRule .* https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]   
  
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/deliver.php$  
RewriteRule (.+) /deliver.php [L,QSA]  

Suggested Packages

I recommend several of my packages. There are also many great packages by The PHP League, Laravel, and there's resources like the Awesome PHP List.

• Documentation: My package Code Scrawl and to use a documentation structure similar to Liaison's.
• Autoloading and dependencies: Composer
• Unit Testing: PHPUnit or My Testing Library
• Databasing: Use built-in PDO class with MySql or my package BigDb
• Markdown: Parsedown or CommonMark (I prefer parsedown for its simplicity)

Additional Database options:

• taeluf/big-db - fully integrated ORM, migrations, sql, and easy querying/inserting.
• taeluf/lildb - Independent components for ORM, migrations, sql, and easy querying/inserting.
• Redbean + my Redbean Wrapper
• Doctrine - Very robust, lots of boilerplate, good but not my taste.
• Illuminate - Extensive featureset, large learning curve, lots of abstraction. Good, but not my taste.
• Nette Database
• Medoo
• CakePhpOrm

Oragnizing your site's code

Suggested file structure from the root of your server:

SERVER_ROOT/  
    backup/ <- Root dir for user-generated content, like file uploads, backups of your databases, and possibly even cache files.  
    app/ <- each distinct feature-set on your site can be organized into an indinvidual liaison package  
        FileUploader/ <- A Liaison Package for uploading files  
        GovernmentOffice/ <- A Liaison Package for the GUI to input local government offices & display them to site users  
        JournalArticles/ <- A Liaison Package for writing local news.   
    src/ <- Your site's primary liaison package  
        config.json  
        public/  
        ... See Packages documentation  
    deliver.php <- All requests route through this file. This is where you setup liaison & send a response  

If you have user-generated content and use the backup/ dir, I suggest EXCLUDING the backup dir from version control (git), THEN create a separate private git repository just for the backup dir. You can then use cron jobs to regularly commit and push any changes to the backup dir.

Also, long-running processes are often not recommended for cron jobs, so you might want to use cron to run an at command to execute the git commit/push AFTER the cron task is finished running. This may depend on your webhost's policies and best practices.