Tutorials for Developers & Sysadmins
Step-by-step guides for the work we actually do — Laravel, PHP, WordPress, MySQL, Linux servers, and the occasional rabbit hole. Every command has been run on a real machine; nothing is theoretical.
How to Validate a Unique Column on Update in Laravel
Validate a unique column on update in Laravel without rejecting the record's own value — use Rule::unique('table')->ignore($id) or the string…
How to Validate an Email Address in PHP
Validate an email address in PHP with filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL). Add checkdnsrr for MX records and a confirmation email to verify…
How to Use Select2 Inside a Bootstrap Modal
Make Select2 work in a Bootstrap modal by setting dropdownParent: $('#myModal'). The modal's focus trap blocks the dropdown unless it…
How to Use LEFT JOIN in Laravel to Keep All Records
Get all records from the main table in Laravel even when there's no match in the joined table — use…
How to Upload Only Image Files Using PHP
Upload only image files in PHP — don't trust $_FILES['x']['type']. Verify bytes with getimagesize(), whitelist IMAGETYPE_*, rename, and block script…
How to Upload Files via Ajax with jQuery
Upload files (images, anything) via Ajax with jQuery using FormData and contentType/processData false. Includes upload progress and the vanilla fetch…
How to Disable Binary Logging in MySQL or MariaDB
Permanently disable binary logging in MySQL or MariaDB by adding skip-log-bin to my.cnf under [mysqld]. Verify with SHOW VARIABLES LIKE…
How to Switch from LiteSpeed to Apache in WHM/cPanel
Switch from LiteSpeed to Apache in WHM/cPanel with /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/cp_switch_ws.sh apache. If LiteSpeed is still running, stop it with lswsctrl stop.
How to Replace jQuery’s .each() with Vanilla JavaScript
Replace jQuery's .each() with vanilla JavaScript: document.querySelectorAll(sel).forEach(...) or for...of. Includes index access, early exit, and breaking out.
How to Trigger a Function When DataTables Loads Data
Run a function every time DataTables finishes loading via Ajax with the xhr.dt event. Compares with draw.dt and shows how…