Documentation

A good place to start is by skimming through the ever-growing FAQ. Then have a look at the online manual and other resources in the documentation section.

Books

Books are convenient resources to begin exploring PHP. The titles listed here will help you to start learning PHP, as well as extending your existing knowledge.

Reporting Bugs

If you can't resolve your problem from the available documentation or mailing list archives, and you think it might be a bug, a Bug Database has been established for tracking bugs and ensuring that all reported bugs get addressed. If you see a problem, please tell us so we can address it. Please read Dos & Don'ts before posting a report.

User Groups

Mailing Lists

One of the best resources is the very friendly and helpful mailing lists. There are a few PHP-related mailing lists available.

• Announcements of new PHP releases are sent the php-announce list. (This is a very low-volume, moderated list.)
• The main list for PHP users is php-general@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated, high volume list, and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• The list for discussing database topics is php-db@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated list and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• The list for discussing installation issues and problems is php-install@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated list and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• The list for discussing internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) issues and features is php-i18n@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated list and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• The list for discussion migration from earlier versions of PHP is php-migration@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated list and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• The list for Windows PHP users is php-windows@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated list and is also available in a twice-daily digest.)
• Users interested in early access to PHP releases so that they can provide feedback about bugs to the developers before releases go out to the world can subscribe to the Beta list. (This is an unmoderated, low-volume list.)
• The list for those who want to help out with the development of PHP is php-dev@lists.php.net. (This is an unmoderated, medium-volume list.)
• The Knowledge Base list receives daily mailings that contain summaries of topics discussed on the user list, as well as other topics drawn from the Knowledge Base. More information about the Knowledge Base can be found at http://www.faqts.com/.

To subscribe to one of these lists, use this simple form:

You will be sent a confirmation mail at the address you wish to be subscribed or unsubscribed, and only added to the list after following the directions in that mail.

Archives for some of these mailing lists can be found at:

• All PHP Lists at www.phpbuilder.com
• Developers' List
• PHP 3.0 List
• PHP Documentation List
• PHPLIB List
• PHPLIB Developers' List

Warning: The PHP users mailing list gets close to 2500 messages per month currently. Do the math. That translates to about 80 messages per day. If your mailbox can't handle this sort of traffic you might want to consider subscribing to the digest list instead (two messages per day). You can also read the mailing list on the above web interface, or if you like reading things with a news reader, you can read it at news.netimages.com.

You can search the mailing lists right from this website from the search page or by using the search button on the top-right of every page.

Newsgroups

The mailing lists hosted at lists.php.net are also gatewayed to newsgroups on the server at news.php.net.

You can both read and post to the mailing lists through the news interface.

Local Mailing Lists

There are also some mailing lists that have been set up by others in the community to host local discussions (particularly non-English discussions).

• French PHP User's Mailing List
• French PHP Newsgroup
• German PHP User's Mailing List
• German PHP Newsgroup
• Italian PHP User's Mailing List
• Portuguese PHP User's Mailing List
• Spanish PHP User's Mailing List
• Turkish PHP User's Mailing List

Sample Code

Looking for some more sample PHP scripts? Our links page page lists some archives of sample PHP code - great places to find many example scripts and useful functions, organized for your searching pleasure!

Knowledge Base

The knowledge base is a growing collection of PHP related information in a searchable question and answer format. Anyone can contribute, and everyone is encouraged to do so. You can visit the Knowledge Base at http://www.faqts.com/.

Getting the Latest Development Version

PHP is developed using CVS, so it's possible to obtain the latest development release at any time. Further instructions can be found in the web interface to the PHP 3.0 CVS tree.

Instant Resource Center

Otherwise known as IRC or Internet Relay Chat. Here you can usually find experienced PHP people sitting around doing nothing on the #php channel on OpenProjects. There is also a #php channel on EFNet, but due to the difficulties many people have getting on and staying on that network we are migrating to the OpenProjects network.