After some frustration trying to switch versions of PHP using Laravel Valet, I found out that valet has specific commands for running commands under an isolated version of PHP. Valet now allows you to set a project-level version of PHP so you no longer have to switch your installed version. The trick is using valet commands when running PHP. Read More
Are URL Shorteners Useful Today?
Short URLs are everywhere, and I do not see them going away anytime soon. Services like T.LY, TinyURL, and Bitly have billions of short links spread out all across the web. If these services shut down, billions of URLs would fail to redirect, and this could break the internet. Explaining what a URL Shortener service is not complicated. Most people know how they work and the purpose but here are a few reasons to create short URLs that you may not know of.
Make URLs Shorter
There are many uses for short URLs besides the obvious long link to short link. How much easier is it to share: t.ly/short vs https://timleland.com/are-url-shorteners-useful-today/. This is common use case when links are shared verbally. For example, when sharing a URL on YouTube videos, podcasts, radio, and tv, a long complicated URL is not going to result in many visits.
Some other use cases are when there is a character limit such as text messages which are limited to 160 characters. This also use to be an issue on Twitter but they solved the issue by using their own URL Shortener.
Short URLs are also easier to remember when typing or saying. I may not remember the full URL of this blog post but I will remember t.ly/short. Read More
How to Install ImageMagick PHP
Run these commands to install ImageMagick extension for PHP on MacOs:
- brew install imagemagick
- pecl install imagick
- Restart PHP brew services restart php
You may need to check if imagick is loaded in your php.ini file. Run php -m | grep -i imagick to see if the module is activated.
How To Find PHP.ini File
Depending on the version and operating system, PHP can be installed in multiple locations. Fortunately, you can quickly locate the PHP.ini file by running this command:
php --ini
How to Edit PHP.ini file
Look for Loaded Configuration File from the output, then edit the file using nano.
sudo nano /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.0/php.ini