This is a Q&A section where I answer some questions I have been asked.
Dealing With XML
Question: Is there a quick and easy built in function in PHP to convert XML to an array?
In short yet, assuming the XML your trying to sieve through is not too complex the simplexml_load_file() function should be able to handle your needs.
Telling a friend they got ‘had’
Question: A colleague of mine recently went about starting his own .com, unfortunately the Designer/Coder they used was awful (for some reason, they did not ask me as well). Basically they paid (a large sum of money) to have a wordpress blog with a tacky (and invalid) design slapped on top of it. Should I tell them they got ripped off, and if yes how should I go about it?
This is quite a sensitive subject, on the one hand they have been seriously ripped off (unclosed tags is not forgivable), but on the other hand they also may not take too kindly to finding out that their website is about as useful as a burning boat.
I suggest showing your friend his website in another web browser, generally if the coding sucks it should render incorrectly. Hopefully the little nudge in the right direction should set the ball rolling in terms of fixing the problems. If they don’t fix it (or ignore the problem), their loss.