Tutorials

Tutorials, covering a wide range of topics.

Attempt to assign property post_content on null – Critical WordPress Error

Updated 28th December 2023

Are you seeing an error when creating new posts or pages in WordPress? Attempt to assign property post_content on null A bad database migration likely causes the error. I have experienced this error when exporting a WordPress database using the database export tool built into PHPStorm through an SSH tunnel to set up a WordPress

What is a Cron Job and how to write to the Crontab

Updated 10th December 2023

The need to schedule tasks on a machine is common for any Software Developer, System Admin or IT professional, so it’s important to learn what a cron job is and how to write to the crontab. What is CRON? Cron is a daemon built-in to most Unix-like operating systems such as: Cron reads the crontab (cron tables)

IPtables – How to block and unblock IP Addresses in Linux

Updated 14th December 2023

Linux IPtables manual

Not long ago, I noticed some strange activity on a server I manage. The server, running Ubuntu 22.04, was receiving high volumes of traffic from a single IP Address. After some investigation, I decided the activity resembled that of web scrapping, so I decided to block the IP Address. Iptables or ufw I hear you

SQL Union – What is a Union and how to combine two or more SQL Select queries

Updated 1st December 2023

The SQL UNION Operator is used to combine two or more SELECT statements together into one set of results. Things to know about SQL Union Operator To execute a SQL UNION statement successfully, you need to be away of the requirements of a UNION statement. Example using SQL UNION In our example we have 2

How to transform geometries with PostGIS

Updated 2nd October 2023

ST_Transform in PostGIS

PostGIS is a power extention for PostgreSQL databases. It provides a suite of tools to handle and manipulate geographic data. At times, you may need to transform geometries with PostGIS for different base maps or to perform more accurate calculations, such as calculating the area of a polygon. Transform geometry with PostGIS PostGIS has a

How to install PostGIS

Updated 2nd October 2023

PostGIS is a plugin which adds support for storing, indexing and querying geographic data in PostgreSQL databases. To get started with PostGIS, you will need to install the extension on your PostgreSQL database. If you are using PostgreSQL as a service from a cloud provider, you may already have PostGIS installed. How to check if

How to setup a remote MySQL database connection in PHPStorm

Updated 1st October 2023

PHPStorm is packed full of features designed to make the development process for PHP developers efficient and streamlined. Although Jetbrains have a standalone product for interacting with databases, named DataGrip, PHPStrom ships with the Database Tools and SQL plugin. This tools is powerful, integrated directly within the IDE, and provides a convinient way to intract

Find php.ini on Apple Silicon installed with Homebrew

Updated 1st October 2023

Are you having trouble finding your php.ini file which was installed locally with Homebrew? Packages installed with Homebrew can be installed in different locations making it hard to find, especially if you are on new Apple Mac running Apple’s Silicon chips. Here, I will show you home to locate your locally installed php.ini file installed

Laravel 9: How to Add a New Column to an Existing Table in a Migration

Updated 1st October 2023

Laravel has a number of features designed to make developing web applications easier and faster. Migrations in Laravel allows us to manage the structure of our databases. In this post, you will learn how to add a new column to an existing table in a migration. Create a new migration file First, we need to

5 Tips for quickly learning web development

Updated 1st October 2023

If you’re interested in learning web development, you may be wondering how to go about it in the most efficient way possible. There’s no single answer to this question, as different people have different learning styles and preferences. However, there are a few general tips that can help you make the most of your learning

JDBC Connector Communication link failure error to MySQL

Updated 3rd January 2024

DBeaver SQL Client

Are you having trouble connecting to a MySQL database through JDBC Connector in a database management tool such as DBeaver Community Edition? DBeaver fails to connect to a local MySQL database with the error “Communication link failure the last packet sent successfully to the server was 0 milliseconds ago“. Here is a breakdown of this