CakePHP themes 1 minute HOWTO

Did you that it only takes a minute to start using themes for your CakePHP application? No? It's just these steps you need to start using themes:

1. In your (app)controller: var $view = 'Theme';
2. In your (app)controller: var $theme = 'orange';
3. Or from a function: $this->theme = 'orange';

That's it! You can now create custom views and layouts for this theme under /app/views/themed/orange. Below that folder you should use the same structure as under /app/views. For example, create a file /app/views/themed/orange/layouts/default.ctp.

So, if theme-specific files exist in themed folders, these will be used, else, CakePHP switched back to the default layouts and views.

You can also create custom CSS and JS files under /app/webroot/themed/orange/css and /app/webroot/themed/orange/js.

Pretty easy huh...

Did you already use themes?

Adobe Browserlab for webdevelopers

Adobe has created Browserlab. It seems to be some kind of browsershots.org and it claims to be realtime. Probably worth trying. Take a look!

Tiny CakePHP Plugin

Tim Trice has released a plugin to shorten urls. This enables you to create your own url shortener like tinyurl.

Link: http://www.timtrice.com/tiny-cakephp-plugin/

Your website is finished and released, now what?

So, you finished your CakePHP programming work on your website en your site has just gone live!! Great, whoohoo! But, if you think you can go to sleep you are wrong, much wrong. You have just started, and you should focus on some other things.

One of those things is something like Google Analytics. Always collect statistics from your website from the start. When you have created a Google Analytics account and embedded the code in your pages, your data will grow as visitors come to your site.

After a few days or weeks you will be able to some analysis on your site. What pages do people like? What is the bounce rate of my webpages? Also write down the goals you want your visitors to reach. For example, you want your visitors to sign-up for your free service. Assign a goal in your analytics account to the confirm page of this process and add the other form pages to the preceeding funnel. You'll be able to see how many visitors exit the funnel before they reach the goal.

So, start analyzing your website, even if it is only for fifteen minutes a day!

And, go the Google Conversion University for some great presentations on this topic.

If you are finished and got your Google Analytics Individual Qualification, have a look at this old school stuff they brought to the iPhone.

CakePHP 1.2.2 has been released

Hey, it's still pretty hot news, CakePHP 1.2.2 has been released... go check it out on http://cakephp.org/. Do it! Now!

WhoDidIt behavior: who did what?!

Daniel Vecchiato has written the WhoDidIt behavior for your CakePHP models. Sounds great, he describes it as:

WhoDidIt behavior is useful for tracking who has created and modified records: automagically!

It works like created and modified fields. It's great for doing some logging on which user has created certain records and who is the last person to modify a certain record. Definitely a great addition and probably something for CakePHP 1.3?

Testing your website on an iPhone, without an iPhone

If you are curious how you're freshly developed websites look on an iPhone, you can check http://www.testiphone.com/.

Personally, I prefer Apple's official iPhone simulator, from the iPhone SDK.

How many of you did already develop websites for the iPhone? Just let me know...