As a php web developer, you should know that php is probably the language that has the biggest code repository. So no matter what module you want to include in your project there should be an open source solution.
This can help in various ways, but just in case you can’t think of one, here I put a few :
- Open source is worked by many people, so the result is for sure better than one man’s work
- You can have free updates to your code, while otherwise you should code the updates each time something new comes up
- You save development time while your project is getting better
Anyway, after many years as a web developer, I’ve compiled a list of php classes that can be easily integrated in any project and I am regularly use.
Sending Emails
Sending emails is something very common for every web site. Php’s mail() 
function is good for this, but what if you want to attach a file, or send through an SMTP server, etc? Well in that case you should use phpmailer
User Manipulation
Another common module is the user module. With that you can manipulate users (login, logout, register, etc.) Personally I’ve never found a project that is good enough, so I created my own 
Php user class is a module that can be used even in established projects, as it uses variable data for database tables, fields, session variables, etc.
Fetching RSS Feeds
Ever wanted to fetch an rss feed from your project? Well there is always an easy way to fetch a feed but in most cases you need more than that. When that is the case you should definitely use Magpie RSS
Geotargeting
There are many times that you need to know where are your visitors coming from. Maxmind gives a solution to this. For a complete tutorial check this article
Grabbing Remote Content
Some times RSS is not enough so you need to grab the content of a web page and parse it. If you are a huge fun of preg you should not continue reading, but if you are not you definitely need the htmlSQL class The htmlSQL class allow you to access html values with SQL code. Nice huh?
Trackback
Sending and receiving trackbacks is vital for a web site in our age. And in fact it is very easy if you are using a class like php trackback
Template System
Another thing that all sites use is a template. A template engine can save you lots of time, while it can make display changes very easy. A complete template engine that most projects use is Smarty
BBcode
BBcode used to be a functionality for forums, but as more and more sites use it in order to be more friendly to their users, you might want to use BBcode to your site. The problem is that BBcode requires a lot of coding and I am not sure if you have the time for this. If you don’t you’ll find StringParser_BBcode class very useful
Paypal Payment Integration
As you may know paypal has a nice API for developers who want to integrate paypal payments in their sites. The paypal IPN integration class helps you make use of it and start accepting payments in 20 minutes.
Editor Controls
I don’t have a problem to make changes to a site using phpMyAdmin or a simple text area, but when it comes to my clients I have to give them more than that. A javascript WYSIWYG editor is a perfect solution but as it requires countless hours to get it done I would suggest you to use the tinyMCE control
Hope you enjoyed this list. If I forgot something feel free to comment above.
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i-nfotech 
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding nnial 2007 – salvatore iaconesi – del.icio.us poetry, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong 🙂
I-nfotech: 10 projects every php developer should use
According to I-nfotech, there’s ten projects that every PHP developer out …
[…] to I-nfotech, there’s ten projects that every PHP developer out there just can’t live without: As a php web developer, you […]
I used to be a big fan of PHPMailer, unfortunately its riddled with bugs and for a long time never got updated (that appears to have changed now), but still, a very good alternative is Swift Mailer, it has a solid OO base and great for extending – https://sourceforge.net/projects/swiftmailer/
…Or as an alternative, you could you just the immense power of Zend Framework. I’ve not never been a fan of Smarty, and I know many programmers agree with me, due to the fact they’ve crafted their very own programming language. What’s wrong with using endif; and endwhile;
I couldn’t agree less.
Phpmailer is a decent lib, but in 90% of the cases unnecessary.
Magpie is based on snoopy, which is basically a piece of crap. For instance, it won’t work when the content is send chucked. Since there aren’t to much RSS aggregators, I’ve written a Snoopy replacement which uses curl. http://blog.adaniels.nl?p=18
You probably don’t need geotargeting in PHP. If you want to know where your visitors, are coming from, install awstats.
htmlSQL is just silly. Learn regexps, buy RegexBuddy is you find it hard.
PHP is a templating engine. Writing a templatimg engine in a templating engine is just foolish.
10 projects every php developer should use « i-nfotech
10 projects every php developer should use « i-nfotech
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I agree with some of the comments, Swiftmailer is a much better product, Smarty is pointless.
HTMLSQL would be interesting if you could make changes to your own HTML files rather than just ‘SELECT’.
The rest all depend on what your doing..
I much prefer FCKeditor for example, but each to their own.
The others I have never used..
Change the name of this list to: “Then PHP projects you should stay the fuck away from!”
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Best template is not necesarily the most used.
Try tinybutstrong,
well documented, intelligent easy to understand on-line examples,
http://www.tinybutstrong.com/
I use “simplePie” for rss parsing.
I think (it’s my personal opinion) simplepie is more performant for international content.
“As a php web developer, you should know that php is probably the language that has the biggest code repository.”
Not a good way to start an article if you want to be taken seriously by anyone familiar with… say… CPAN. A good way to pat yourself on the back, sure; but it suggests ignorance of the rest of the developer community outside of PHP.
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
I too a PHP programmer, designing the websites. Thanks, coded most of the scripts you have listed. Eash and every php programmer should code these programs.