This isn’t your average tutorial, actually it’s not really a tutorial at all. There’s a bigger point here that I’m trying to make: as a developer you have to be efficient. Frameworks definitely get you there: jQuery, Blueprint CSS, and Smarty are a couple of tools to increase your efficiency. You’ll make more money as a byproduct because you will be able to develop more (or better) sites in less time.

The barrier to entry is, of course, the learning curve. It takes a while to get used to any specific framework, but once you’re used to how your set of tools work you’ll notice a huge increase in productivity. One specific tool I’ve been using for a couple years is Smarty.

Smarty is a templating engine. It takes a template and applies it to some content. In effect it separates the code from the content and design. The benefits are that you don’t have to use a heavy content management system like Drupal or WordPress; it’s simple to implement; and you don’t have to copy HTML templates from page to page.

Here’s the deal. I’m not going to show you how to use this one (yet). Smarty has great documentation for that. I am going to give you some homework though. Try it. Go over to http://smarty.net, download the files, and follow the Quick Install tutorial. Next week I’ll give you some tips to make the system more useful and if you’re lucky I’ll through in some downloads to make it even quicker. Now get to work!

I am always on the lookout for more great sites relating to web development in any language, but today, I wanted to share a few of my choices.

First up, we have DZone which is pretty much Digg for Developers. It isn’t always perfect, but I’ve found many great tutorials and tidbits on there over the year.

If you want to cheat and get information from a bunch of blogs talking about PHP, then I suggest Planet PHP. It isn’t perfect, pretty much an amalgamation of a bunch of RSS feeds, it makes it easy to track all sorts of things happening in PHP.

The next one I wanted to mention is PHPBuilder. This site is pretty amazing for those new to PHP, as well as those in the intermediate stages. I haven’t dived too deep through their content to see if they have anything for the advanced coder, but it is still an interesting site that I reference from time to time.

Ajaxian is a blog known to many for its great articles, examples and its selections of posts from other blogs. A high quality blog for those interested in AJAX.

And the last one that I wanted to make sure to mention is NetTuts. I really enjoy this site because the tutorials there are of the highest quality. I find that they don’t always take on the intermediate to advanced techniques, but there are very few tutorial sites that do. The site is both beautifully designed, and has a constant trickle of content. If you aren’t subscribed to it, you’ll probably want to be.

Other than that, which sites dealing with web development do you enjoy? Which blogs, websites, and etcetera do you enjoy on a daily basis? I definitely want to know, so please leave a comment below.

One of the best ways to connect to a server of any type is through SSH. SSH is a secure shell, and will remind most people with a Windows background of DOS or the command-line environment. It can be a little strange to navigate at first, as many of us have become so comfortable with the point and click GUI operating systems, but connecting via SSH is fast, effective, and powerful. It is considered so powerful by many web hosts, that they don’t enable it by default, preferring to only give access to SSH to those that request it by name.

One of the best things about SSH, you can connect from nearly anything that has an Internet connection. On Windows, you’ll want to use PuTTY, or one of the million alternative tools for connecting via SSH. On the Mac, you can just use Terminal, and on your iPod Touch or iPhone, you can use TouchTerm, or one of the alternatives.

SSH access will allow you to move files, change file permissions, upgrade software, and depending on the access level your account has, even reconfigure, and restart your server.

For some people, SSH might seem like a step backwards, and a simple FTP program can do many of the normal, user-level file management stuff, but if you go beyond that, it can be a huge time saver for people, especially mixed with some bash scripting.

So if you don’t have SSH access to your web hosting server, it might be time to look somewhere else and dive in. The advantages over FTP are numerous, and the skills you will learn in getting back to the command line in dealing with your server are skills worth having.

Do you have a favorite SSH application, or a tip that everyone should know when it comes to connecting via SSH? Let us know in the comments below.

Depending on what side of the fence you sit on, you might think Facebook is making the right moves, or think it is totally going in the wrong direction. Facebook has tried, since the beginning, to open up its system to various application developers, advancing the functionality, features, and draw of the site, all the while trying to make its developers and itself wealthy. In this equation, little thought is given to the users except what new “trend” can be taken advantage of, and this is what people are currently complaining about as Facebook’s front page starts to mimic Twitter and other micro-blogging tools more and more.

In a world that barely understands blogging, can the masses take advantage of, and enjoy micro-blogging through status messages and whatnot that Facebook now employs?

Talking to many Facebook faithfuls, and Twitter users alike, most seem unhappy with the changes, one of my friends recently saying that Facebook has, in its latest version lost what made it interesting and worthwhile.

In the last design change, Facebook relegated most applications to other pages, rather than the single profile page, we all had before the redesign, and in doing so, they greatly reduced the application development ring that was so large earlier in Facebook’s history.

But with Facebook creating and managing relationships through Facebook Connect, and other application sharing models that are coming to fruition, from a developer’s perspective, Facebook seems determined to attract attention to its platform and user base.

Facebook Connect is the next evolution of Facebook Platform – enabling you to integrate the power of Facebook Platform into your own site. Enable your users to…

• Seamlessly “connect” their Facebook account and information with your site
• Connect and find their friends who also use your site
• Share information and actions on your site with their friends on Facebook

What is it about Facebook that has made it so addicting to millions of people, and has it made a mistake in its recent redevelopment, refocus and redesign? Could someone now take over as the new-Facebook, as Facebook did against MySpace according to many people?

Or as a developer, is it just a chance to get in on the fbFund that attracts you to the platform?

From TechCrunch:

Facebook will choose 50 teams based on app metrics, developer talent and potential to succeed. From those teams, a subset will later be chosen and offered the opportunity to receive up to $100,000 in equity investment and an invitation to participate in an incubator program in Silicon Valley later this year. While there, the teams will be able to meet with Facebook engineers, venture capitalists and other tech executives.

I think Facebook is interesting, but as an early adopter when it comes to the web, and technology, I am ready for the next big thing, aren’t you?