On most websites - including this one - the footer is the boring place where you (usually) place all the pocket lint, which didn’t make it into the page anywhere else. It usually have a copyright notice, links to a site map and other stuff which may be important, but not interesting (speaking in very broad terms).

Today I came across an article on footers with great usability. Footer Usability? Yes, and from a blunt disregard and ignorance, I’ve discovered that the site footer is an excellent place to place a lot more effort.

Not  all code are created equal. Some pieces of code are more important than others. The code that powers critical parts of a nuclear power plant is hopefully of a much higher standard than the code behind this site, but how do you recognize which quality of code you should aim for when developing websites?

A website may not have one set level for all content - usually the various pieces which make up the site (no matter if it be classes, files or functions - in PHP). On the level you’re looking, let me suggest, for each piece you judge the required (minimum) quality on two simple parameters:

One of the great challenges of PHP is that it’s so easy to learn, that just about anyone can learn it with not too much of an effort. While this is great for the number of PHP developers, it also seems to have the effect, that there is a huge number of bad examples of code out there. How do you then know good code? In my book there are a few signs, which you could judge from – and they may even apply broader than just php-code.

One of the funny observations as a web developer: It’s amazing how many people consider caching bad by definition. If you know what you’re doing, caching is an amazingly powerful tool, which can provide cheap and efficient scaling to those who know how to use it.

Know when it’s okay to cache

If thousands of people see the same non-personal frontpage of your website - do you then do the 20+ database queries to build a fresh one for each visitor or do you just refresh a cacheable version from time to time?

Many online sites such as news-sites and other content providers often have a “tip a friend” option. With this you can mail a friend and tell them about an interesting piece of content you’ve found. The Idea seems quite simple, and everyone should have the tip-option, wright? - no, wrong. While it may offer a convenience for some, it has several backsides.

First if you - or your email provider - has implemented anti-spam techniques such as SPF-records, the “tipping mail” will not be sent through the authorized list of mail-servers and thus have a larger likelihood of being labeled as spam. Your mail be sent, but you don’t know if it will arrive in your friends mailbox.