Friday, November 30, 2018
6 Books That Will Help You Become a Better Writer
Learning to become a better writer is a lifelong effort that involves reading what others have said about the craft.
What You Can Learn from MeToo Founder Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke founded the MeToo movement, reaching from the boardroom to the federal government. Here's what you can learn from her powerful TED Talk
How to Master the Art of Conversation, According to One of the Best Conversationalists Ever
Some people are better than others at holding a conversation. Here is some advice from one of the masters of the art.
17 of the Most Inspiring Quotes on Leadership in History
Success, power, and leadership go hand in hand. Cultivate your personal and professional leadership, whether you're at a startup or a big company.
13 Holiday Gifts That Will Make Any Entrepreneur Happy
From practical stocking stuffers to zen gardens, you'll find a gift for any entrepreneur on this list.
Consider These 3 Things Before You Give Someone a Promotion (Or It Could Cost You)
Make the right choice, the first time.
The Follow-Up Question When Candidates Say, 'I'm A Team Player'
The next time someone says they're a team player during a jobinterview, ask them this.
Boost Your Creative Content With These Podcasts
If you're working in content marketing, these podcasts can helpyou tacklewriting, social media and digital strategy, general marketing, and more.
A Simple But Powerful Method For Getting More Writing Done (and Much Faster)
When it comes to writing, we are often our own worst enemy. Here's a time-tested strategy for overcoming the barriers to creating more content.
Are Millennials the New Entrepreneurs?
The next generation of leaders are making headlines for their entrepreneurial attitude - are millennials driving a new startup revolution?
Here's How the World's Most In-Demand Freelancers Get Great Assignments--And Paid Top Dollar
Submitting excellent work is essential. But if you want to have your pick of plum (and lucrative!) assignments, make sure you're doing these 9 simple things.
Now That You're A Leader, Here's How to Improve This Essential Communication Skill
Yes, you need to present information. But doing this is more important.
This Is What the Most Successful Teams Do Differently From Everyone Else
Having a shared purpose is the best way to bring a team together.
This Water Tech Entrepreneur Has Gained #1 Market Share by Breaking Conventional Marketing Rules
Don't assume marketing that works for many is right for your company, too. Being different might be exactly what you need.
Have a Tendency to Procrastinate? Here's How to Fix It For Good
Avoiding procrastination is as simple as cultivating a proactive attitude.
How to Become a LinkedIn Top Voice, According to LinkedIn's Editor-in-Chief
Writing content on LinkedIn that stands out and generates reader engagement can be hard. Here's some advice for doing this more effectively.
Black Friday Isn't a Holiday, But Here's Why Designated Shopping Days Matter
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4 Big Reasons People Are Leaving San Francisco
More people are leaving San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Here's four reasons why.
Payless Shoes Becomes the Ultimate Troll in an Sneaky and Clever PR Move
PR when done well can be enormously powerful.
More Female Founders Go From Raising Cash to Backing Other Startups As Angel Investors
These entrepreneurs believe their experience can change the funding landscape for those coming up behind them.
How to Not Panic At The End of the Year
As Q4 wraps up, we all start to panic. Here's how to keep calm in the frenzy.
When Was the Last Time You Took 1 Hour In Your Work Day to Do Nothing? LinkedIn's CEO Does This Every Single Day
Time to regain control of your workday and stop playing catch-up.
Looking to Make Your Employees Healthy and More Productive? It's Going to Take More Than Standing Desks
Standing desks are being marketed as a low cost solution along with being a healthy alternative to sitting. But that's missing the point of stuation,
Up to 500 Million Customers' Data Stolen in Massive Marriott Security Breach
The hacked data included credit card and passport information.
Here's How You Can Start a Business In 10 Minutes Per Day
If you have five extra minutes per day you can start a business and reap the rewards.
Learning from Twitter, Facebook and Salesforce: How to Prevent the Pointed, Brave Employee Letter
Why you should listen to your employees when they ask for changes.
This Simple Principle Will Dramatically Improve Your Communication
Change your perspective and people will pay attention.
Can You Be an Effective Leader in an Open Office?
However noble the intention behind open-office design, the way corporate leaders execute day-to-day business within that space is just as important as the physical office.
5 Tips for Reaching Your Goals in 2019
This time next year, you can proudly say that you completed a majority -- if not all -- of your goals for 2019.
Is Your Corporate Culture Connected or Disconnected?
"Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first." - Simon Sinek
Working in a Crowded Market? Here's How to Stand Out and Improve Profit Margins
Earning more money for your business has everything to do with improving profit margins. But that is often a big ask of your sales team. Here's a successful example from the wine industry.
How Rich People Think Differently Than Everyone Else: This New Study Reveals the Personality Traits of Self-Made Millionaires
New research shows wealthy people actually do possess different personality traits than the average person.
In 8 Words to His Kids, Jeff Bezos Explains What It Means to Be a Highly Successful Leader
Leadership encompasses a plethora of things. While the order of things can be debated. One thing that isn't up for debate is to live by these 8 words.
Why People Don't Make Phone Calls Anymore, According to Psychology
The trend doesn't necessarily make anybody more efficient or productive.
The Reverse Performance Assessment is The Best Way to Get Feedback As a Leader
Get ongoing, actionable feedback in just 30 minutes with this nontraditional type of assessment.
Why This Holiday's Most Brilliant Retail Promotion Will Fail
Payless, the struggling shoe retailer,launched an extremely clever promotion -- but it may end up alienating the very consumers they need to survive.
This Is the Best Time to Plan Your Big End-of-Year Meeting
You could increase your chances of getting a yes at your next meeting by scheduling it at a specific time of day.
This Is How Disney Became the Happiest Place on Earth (And How You Can Recreate That At Your Workplace)
The customer experience Disney delivers did not happen by chance. Neither should yours.
Mock Donald Trump? That's What This Very Popular Airline Just Decided to Do (For Christmas, That Is)
I wonder how well this will go over.
Four Convincing Reasons Why Joining a Gym Should Be Part of Your New Year's Success Strategy
Getting fit and healthy will make you happier, and ultimately, more successful.
This Is the Best Time to Plan Your Big End-of-Year Meeting
You could increase your chances of getting a yes at your next meeting by scheduling it at a specific time of day.
This Is How Disney Became the Happiest Place on Earth (And How You Can Recreate That At Your Workplace)
The customer experience Disney delivers did not happen by chance. Neither should yours.
Mock Donald Trump? That's What This Very Popular Airline Just Decided to Do (For Christmas, That Is)
I wonder how well this will go over.
Four Convincing Reasons Why Joining a Gym Should Be Part of Your New Year's Success Strategy
Getting fit and healthy will make you happier, and ultimately, more successful.
Here's the Highly Controversial Thing Facebook Announced on the Wednesday Before Thanksgiving (We Weren't Supposed to Notice or Remember, Right?)
'In case you missed it...' well, that's kind of the point.
Science Says the Most Successful Kids Have Parents Who do These 3 Things
Recent studies shine a light on less obvious ways to help young people do better in life.
New Study: What Men, Millennials, and Introverts Crave the Most in the Workplace
Surprising new workplace research reveals what certain groups of people require to perform well at work.
These Are The 5 Essential Personality Traits of a True Entrepreneur. Do You Have What It Takes?
Entrepreneurship is tough, and it takes more than skill and savvy to make it. Happily, some of what's required seems hardwired into our DNA.
Here's the Surprising Reason Very Rich People Are Driving for Uber (and Doing Other Gig Economy Jobs)
The person assembling your IKEA furniture or delivering your takeout? He or she might live in a mansion and drive a $100,000 car.
How Chick-fil-A Became an Iconic $9 Billion Business--Without Ever Going Public
The company has created a fast-food empire with more than 2,000 locations, but its growth hasn't come without controversy.
Neuroscientists Discover How to Make an Open Plan Office Slightly Less Horrible
Here's a way to make open plan offices slightly less unproductive... but your managers won't like it.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
2 Essential Qualities Every Good Leader Should Continuously Be Improving On
Being a good leader means always finding new ways to improve your leadership skills.
3 Things to Prepare Before Launching Your Retail Business
For brands making their first move into retail, there's a lot that you'll need to do to ensure you are ready to welcome in shoppers.
A 9-Year-Old Girl Wrote a Letter of Complaint to NBA Star Steph Curry. His Response Was Truly Brilliant
There's emotional intelligence and then there's sheer human intelligence.
How to Attract Job Seekers to Your Company in Just a Few Seconds
The record-low unemployment rate means job seekers can be more selective than ever before. Here's how to capture their attention quickly.
Southwest Airlines Sassy Goes Too Far When a Gate Agent Mocks a Little Kid's Name
Emotional intelligence is necessary for all employees, not just top managers
Want to Be a Better Negotiator? There's Only One Thing You Need to Know
This will greatly increase the odds of creating a win-win outcome.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Pitching an Idea to Your Boss
Your idea is only as good as your ability to sell it
6 Professional Places to Meet Clients Away From the Office
Traveling for business and being away from an office does not mean that you can't conduct successful business meetings. Here are a few ideas on places to meet.
There is Danger and Evil Lurking in Short-Term, Cash Advance Loans
Could your business be the next one to be chewed-up?
No One Wants a Future Dominated by an AI Elite. Here's How Smaller Players Are Getting into the Game
It's time to shake it up a bit.
6 Clever Ways to Grow Your Email Newsletter Using Social Media
Looking for a faster and more effective way to build your email list? Start with these six social media tactics.
Why You Need to Start Networking Within Your Company--and How to Do It
Being a leader doesn't have to be lonely.
7 Ways to Get Someone to Like You, According to an FBI Expert
Whether you're at a large company or startup, success and leadership depend on others liking you. An FBI expert lays out how to do that quickly.
Looking Past the Holidays: What Will Happen to Retail?
10 ways retail and innovative technology can merge to stay relevant in the next year.
The Shocking Amount You Need To Earn To Be Upper Class (Do You Make the Cut?)
Being in the top tier doesn't necessarily require a Maserati or a butler anymore.
Elon Musk Wants You to Work 80 Hours a Week. Try This Smarter Strategy Instead
Tesla founder Elon Musk argues that you need to work at least 80 hours a week to make an impact. The only impact will be on your body. Do this instead
A Survey of 1,597 Marketers Revealed the 4 Steps Behind Every Successful Marketing Strategy
Research shows that this marketing strategy will make you 538 percent more successful.
A Guide to the 7 Types of Business Travelers
If you know what type of business traveler you are, you can work on maximizing travel success.
Looking to Discover Your Passion? Try This Simple and Unconventional Approach
Everyone talks about finding your passion. But what follows is a series of fluffy tips leading to nowhere. Instead, try this unconventional habit.
Here's How to Finally Travel The World and Work For Yourself
Here are the tools you need other than an internet connection to be a successful digital nomad.
Why Researchers Say the Best Leaders Give the Worst Feedback
Research reveals that "bad managers" give too little or no feedback. Aha! co-founder and CEO Brian de Haaff explains how leaders should have hard conversations at work.
3 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019
2019 is going to be a big year for digital marketers and savvy business owners.
6 Free (Yet Invaluable) Holiday Gifts for Colleagues, Coworkers, and Friends
Because how much a holiday 'gift' costs has nothing to do with how thoughtful -- and valuable -- it can be.
What a Self-Deprecating Sense of Humor Says About Your EQ
Emotional intelligence is indispensable in leadership and being self-aware is a tenant to high EQ.
Why Your Cash Flow Problems Have Nothing To Do With Your Sales (And How To Fix It Quick)
Having trouble making payroll? Don't blame your sales team.
Whole Foods Has to Pay $65K For Firing A Cashier With a Disability
Whole Foods, American with Disabilities Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC
These Are the 7 Steps I Use to Handle Any Major Company Crisis
These strategies can help resolve a business crisis.
3 Tweaks That Can Take Your Struggling Startup to Winning
You don't need a Silicon Valley address to succeed.
How to Take the Conflict Out of Conflicting Advice
Whether you're the President of the U.S. or president of a business, you are always going to get a mixed bag of well-meaning opinions. How do you sort through them?
Want People to Like You? Clean Up Your Messy Office, Study Says
The cleaner your office, the better your impression.
4 Tell Tale Signs That Things Need to Change In Your Company
If you spot one or more of these four signs, it's definitely time to make a change in your business.
The Campbell Soup Culture is About to Change Forever. And Their Story Will Teach You the Lesson of a Lifetime
The Campbell Co settlement will change a 150-year-old tradition. Their story teaches entrepreneurs lessons in decision making, and long-term survival.
Is it OK to Swear on Stage as a Speaker?
Is it a great way to engage an audience or cheap theatrics?
Warning: If You Work In One of These 2 Industries, You're Most Likely to be Targeted By Hackers
New research reveals not only which industries are most vulnerable, but which job titles are most targeted.
Holiday Deals Are Good, but Your Customers Want Experiences (Preferably Instagrammable Ones)
Consumers don't just want to buy products--they're looking for memories.
McDonald's Stunning New Coffee Sustainability Announcement Will Completely Change the Future of Fast Food
In the United States alone, McDonald's sells more than 1 billion pounds of beef and more than 500 million cups of coffee each year.
4 Simple Habits to Learn Like a Designer
Acquire these 4 simple habits to learn like a designer, to fuel your imagination: See Like A Bird, Pollinate Like A Bee, Extend Like An Octopus and Learn Like A Sponge.
This 1 Powerful Question Will Immediately Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
This single question will help you build stronger, deeper connections with others.
Starbucks Just Announced It's Going to Stop People Doing Something They Should Really Never Do (McDonald's Has Already Done It)
Some might say it's about time. But how big a problem is it?
The Very Best GaryVee Quotes of 2018 to Inspire You to Go for Your Dreams
Gary Vaynerchuk's wise words will inspire you to go after your dreams and believe in yourself.
18 Simple Ways to Get More Done Today
The highest achieving people you know use discipline as their secret weapon.
Legendary Heavyweight Boxer Wladimir Klitschko Explains How to Maintain Greatness
Wladimir Klitschko won the heavyweight boxing title at just 24 years old and went on to defend that title 23 times. Here's what drove his success.
Think You're a Great Manager? Make Sure You Haven't Forgotten These 4 Important Leadership Habits
Welcome to your leadership evolution.
How to Tell Stories That Eliminate Indifference for Your Brand: 3 Simple Lessons From Creed II
Strong emotional connections fuel customer loyalty.
The 10 Best Business Books of 2018
For the entrepreneurs and executives on your gift list, here are 10 great titles to read by the fire.
Teach Your Child This 1 Thing If You Want to Raise an Entrepreneur
The next generation of entrepreneurs may still be on school playgrounds or conceiving promposals, but don't think your parenting won't matter to their future employees.
Scientists Just Found Something Absolutely Shocking on These McDonald's Self-Order Touchscreens
The discovery of fecal (poo) bacteria on McDonald's self-order touchscreens is raising concern about their safety.
How This Five-Time Serial Entrepreneur Jumpstarts a New Company
Marcia Kilgore is the most successful entrepreneur you've never heard of.
These Entrepreneurs Teamed Up to Do Something That Hadn't Been Done for Decades: Make Flannel Shirts in the USA
This is what happens when you deny Gen Xers their flannel.
Every Student, Teacher, Janitor and Bus Driver at This High School Just Got a $1,000 Cash Gift. Here's What Motivated the 89-Year-Old Donor
He saw what they'd been through. So he showed up with suitcases full of money.
Elon Musk Is Wrong. You Can Definitely Change the World On 40 Hours a Week
In his recipe for productivity, Musk failed to research the science or even think the mathematics through.
The Real Power of Harnessing Empathy is in the Ability to Forgive
When someone pushes your buttons, respond with...love? Yes!
How Many Salespeople Are Hypocrites? A New Survey Cleverly Answers the Question
None of us is immune from prejudices, are we?
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
The 4 Most Common Lies People Tell on Dating Apps, According to a Stanford Researcher
Tinder, Bumble, OKCupid, Hinge, and other dating apps are foundational in modern love and relationships. But what's the percentage of lying?
Want Better Leaders on Your Team? Start Doing These 3 Essential Things
A little bit of coaching goes a long way.
3 Reasons to Consider Small Towns for Entrepreneurship
Best City for Entrepreneurship, Where Should I Start my Company, Start-up capital, startup cities, where to build a company
How Burger King Lost Its Mind on Twitter and Gained the One Thing It Desperately Wanted
And it was all so simple.
You Should Avoid Unscheduled Phone Calls At All Costs. But If You Absolutely Must Call, At Least Consider This
Starting a spontaneous business call without this phrase should be avoided at all costs.
Startup Found a Way to Do Good, Make Money, and Use Blockchain at the Same Time
This is one smart way to approach improving the world with technology.
Compensation Is More Than Just Salary. Here's How to Negotiate the Best Possible Offer
Your salary can certainly be important to your quality of life, but it isn't the only part of the contract you can negotiate.
How You Dress at Work Is Way More Important Than You Think
There is a common perception among management that if you can't handle the small things, you probably aren't well suited to handle larger responsibility.
Elon Musk Is No Longer Building a Tunnel Under the Westside of Los Angeles. He's Doing This Instead
The new project will shuttle baseball fans to Dodger Stadium.
What the Rise in Employee Activism in 2018 Means for the Future of the Workplace
Workers have made themselves clear: They want more from their employers.
5 Non-Spammy Ways to Gain Positive Customer Reviews Online
Looking for more positive customer reviews without resorting to spammy tactics? Then start with these 5 proven strategies.
10 Inspirational Podcasts That Will Make You Better
Podcasthelp me to get motivated, recharge my spirit, boost my mood, and help me get better.
7 Things in Leadership That Require No Talent But Lead to Massive Success
2019 can be a better year for you as a leader just by focusing on things that require no special talent
3 Proven Methods to Generate Excitement for Your Next Product Launch
You work hard to produce something your customers will love. Make sure you shout from the rooftops about it.
Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?
How one tech disruptor is changing the luxury items game with exciting innovations.
How to Make Your Toast the Star of the Holiday Party
Deck the halls. Go tell it on the mountain. Here's how to nail your festive speech.
Maintain Focus and Lower Stress By Starting Your Day With This
Here is something you can do that changes the way you think throughout the day.
Quitting Your Job? Make Sure You Don't Make This Common Mistake Before Leaving
Leaving a job can be tough, don't make this common mistake
Why Now Might be the Best Time to Quit Your Job and Go on Your Own
With the economy doing well, it may be a good time to quit your job as companies look to hire more freelancers.
Why Malcolm Gladwell Tells Entrepreneurs to Stop Only Focusing on 1 Thing
The bestselling author, Malcom Gladwell, explains why being creative and pivoting is more important than having a niche.
The Best Companies Make This 1 Mistake With Virtual Employees. Don't Let It Get You
Virtual employees may seem easy, but that might be because you're not taking the time to lead them.
This Is the Best Day of the Week to Take Off From Work
Research shows that taking time off on this day can be beneficial in several ways.
How to Conquer Meeting Fatigue and Reach Results Faster
Enhance employee productivity by creating a balance between meetings and solo work.
4 Ways to Escape the Vortex of Meeting FOMO
You're Stuck in a Meeting You Don't Care About. Here Are 4 Ways to Make Sure It Never Happens Again.
How This Entrepreneur Turned a Podcast Into a Million Dollars in Funding for His Company (And How You Can Too)
A podcast is a great tool to build a brand and connect with future customers, mentors and even investors.
Seth Godin Says You're Trying Too Hard to Sell
In his new best-seller, thought leader Seth Godin explains how you can attract your best customers no matter what your business
How Human Connection Contributes To Innovation
We opened our books and bared our company's soul. When we connected as humans, we went from life support to the Inc. 500.
How Lack of Diversity Points to Facebook's Downfall
Facebook Strategic Partner Manager Mark Luckie left the company and sent a note about its diversity crisis. Zuckerberg should heed the viral warning
How Tom Condon Transformed the Role of NFL Player Agent (and Negotiated Some of the Biggest Deals in Football History)
Tom Condon went from pro football player to lawyer to sports agent... and in the process revolutionized the career prospects for professional athletes.
9 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Take Out a Business Loan
Financing your small business shouldn't be taken lightly. Before you even consider a loan, you need to be able to answer these big questions.
Bird Is Offering Entrepreneurs Their Own Fleet of E-Scooters
Here's how to become an e-scooter entrepreneur.
The 20 Best Office Christmas Gifts for Coworkers
The 20 Best Office Christmas Gifts for Coworkers: These unique presents will surprise and delight your work friends!
5 Artificial Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2019
Let's take a look into the future of AI technology.
3 Companies Putting Impact Ahead of Profits (and Enjoying More Success Because of It)
Three companies that demonstrate how prioritizing social impact can lead to greater levels of success.
8 Ways Your Startup Can Overcome the Holiday Season Staffing Challenge
Business is booming. Yet so are time-off requests from employees. Here's how to navigate the holiday season staffing challenge.
5 Ways to Motivate Yourself and Increase Your Productivity
Writing down your goals is one step toward making them a reality. Staying motivated is another. Here are 5 ways to stay motivated, increase your productivity, and meet those goals.
Why Malcolm Gladwell Will Only Drink These 5 Liquids
And why limiting your choices can actually result in greater freedom.
How to Scale Your Business With Messenger Chatbots
More and more consumers are looking for answers from social media chatbots.
Money Is Changing. Here Are the 3 Most Important Ways It'll Affect the Future of Your Wallet
Cryptocurrency is full of opportunities -- and pitfalls. Here are three ways it might transform our lives.
Toronto Raptors Star Kawhi Leonard's Response to Greg Popovich Is a Lesson in Emotional Intelligence
Rather than get baited into a war of words, the NBA star delivered an admirable response.
4 Secrets Successful Entrepreneurs Wish They Could Tell Their Younger Selves
With time comes invaluable wisdom.
How to Recruit Generation Z According to a Human Capital Executive
As it becomes harder and more competitive to attract and retain new talent...these strategies can provide a winning edge.
How to Leave a Legacy of Significance
top worrying about leaving your legacy and spend more time living it. Here are three things you can do today.
The Key to True Work-Life Balance Is Doing This 1 Thing
Achieve work-life balance by changing the way you think about the decisions you make every day.
New Research Proves That You Should Really Only Focus on Your Own Work (and Not What Others Are Doing)
You can undermine yourself by focusing too much on this one thing.
According to LinkedIn, These Are The Top 2 Challenges For Talent Development Professionals (Budget Is Not One of Them)
Organizations must view failure in a different light.
Women On the Verge Of Entrepreneurship: Why You Should and Can Take the Leap Today
Women On the Verge Of Entrepreneurship: Why You Should and Can Take the Leap Today
The Surprising Thing This CEO Learned About Building a Team (After Firing a Top Performer)
Cindy Eckert, founder of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, tells the story of having to fire her top salesperson, and how that affected the rest of her team -- for the better.
This Morning Routine Is the Perfect Way to Start Your Day, According to Science
The 20 Minute Morning Routine Guarantee to Make Your Day Better
3 Things You Need to Stop Doing if You Want Others to Take You Seriously
Achieving more often means taking a good look at what you're doing which is holding you back.
Michelle Obama is Selling Out Arenas for Her Book Tour. The Important Lesson Every Brand Should Learn From It
The customer experience you create can be even more transformational than the product or service you offer.
It's Your Attitude Towards Your Work Not Your Hours That Impacts Your Kids' Happiness
The research is clear: it's not how many hours you spend with your kids that matters. It's your attitude when you're with them.
Lyft Just Capped a Year of Milestones: 1 Billion Rides, $15 Billion Valuation, 80 Percent of the Bike-Share Market
Back in 2008, Logan Green and John Zimmer connected over Facebook to launcha carpooling startup. Eleven yearsand one pivot later, the two founders plan to take the ridehailinggiant, worth billions of dollars, to the public markets in2019.
The 7 Worst Marketing Fails of 2018
Many brands did not get the response they were expecting from their promotional campaigns this year.
Turn Your Writing Into Professional Quality with These 5 Easy Tricks
Short sentences grab readers' attention. Ditto active voice. Adverbs -- meh, not so much.
Southwest Airlines Did Something 21,000 Times This Week. Not One of Those Times Was Good For Passengers
No, there was no big announcement.
Amazon Tells Its New Employees a Really Unusal Thing About Jeff Bezos. Here's the Explanation
It has to do with an inverted pyramid, and who's most important.
The Secret No Customer Will Ever Reveal
You're doing something that really annoys them, but they'll never tell you what it is.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Co-Founders Are Great. Co-CEOs Aren't. Here's Why
Growing businesses thrive under clear leadership but suffer when the top leadership role is shared.
Will Your Relationship Last? Science Says Couples Who Do This 1 Thing Regularly are More Likely to Stay Together
A happy relationship at home makes your professional life and work/life balance far easier and more stable. Make your partner your ally.
How to Be a Compassionate Leader Without Being a Doormat
You don't have to be the Dalai Lama or Mother Teresa to pull it off.
Elon Musk Says You Need to Work at Least 80 Hours a Week to Change the World
The CEO says those long hours are what has kept Tesla alive.
The 10 Most Significant Tech Acquisitions of 2018
The 10 Most Significant Tech Acquisitions of 2018, including Wordstream, IBM, Adobe, and AT&T.
This Is What It Takes to Successfully Manage Managers
You are naturally more distanced from the trenches.
5 Things We Learned From Amazon's Record-Breaking Cyber Monday Shopping Day
It was, indeed, a historic day of shopping.
Science Shows This 1 Action Could Change Your Career Outlook Dramatically in 2019
If you can do this, your career opportunities will widen next year.
6 Problems That Stop Your Startup From Growing, and How to Solve Them
Brainstorm new sources of growth -- then bet on the ones that target attractive markets in which you can gain share and earn a return on investment
Need New Ideas? Ask Your Staff These 7 Thought-Provoking Questions
You can generate a wealth of solutions simply by asking team members the right questions.
This College Sent Its Students a Startling Email About Chick-fil-A. Now There's Trouble
Can exclusion be inclusive?
How to Start an Online Store From Your Dorm Room or Home Office
Starting a store is easier than ever before. Stop making excuses and get one started today!
What Happens When the Demand for Your Products Is So High That You Run Out of Inventory?
Stuart & Lau co-founder Matthew Stuart Janney on managing a thriving (over the short term, maybe TOO thriving) startup.
4 Best Strategies to Execute Now, to Get Ahead in the New Year
Know why New Year's resolutions fail? Lack of momentum. Don't fall into the trap this time around. Instead, starting executing on these four tips now to hit the ground running in 2019.
New York and D.C. Tech Companies: Here's How to Compete With Amazon
You don't need to be a tech giant to attract the best talent.
It's Official: Standing Desks Are the Most Overblown Health Fad of All Time
What could be so bad about swapping your chair for a standing desk? Lots.
Meet the Women Changing the Financial Game for the Underserved and the Next Generation
Blockchain for financial social good is the biggest thing happening in the world of money.
Giant Companies Are Scooping Up Startups Before Their IPOs. What Silicon Valley Wishes Would Happen Instead
U.S. companies are staying private longer or getting scooped up by large corporations.
To End the Year Powerfully, Startups Should Do These 3 Things
When you take time at the end of the year to reflect, to fine-tune culture and celebrate success, you set yourself up for a powerful new year.
Tips for Raising Capital From A Startup Operator and Former Venture Capitalist
Have a can't-miss idea but no capital to back it? An investor and startup mentor shares best practices for funding your dream company.
Your Next Story Can Be As Simple As This
Not everything is complicated. Try this approach to storytelling.
10 Signs You're a Mentally Strong Person (Even Though Most People Think These Are Weaknesses)
Many people don't recognize mental strength when they see it.
Want to Improve Teamwork at Your Company? Encourage Your Employees to Disagree With You
Let your staff know that they have an "obligation to dissent." When colleagues are encouraged to speak up, good things happen.
Forget the Cookie Basket. Here's What Entrepreneurs Really Want For Christmas
With the holidays right around the corner, here's what the business owner in your life really wants this holiday season.
A Guide to Applying Entrepreneurial Thinking to Every Business Decision
Coach your employees to think like entrepreneurs. That way, you'll empower them to propose actionable solutions instead of only ideas.
Is Your Employee's Messy Desk Destroying Productivity? Here's an Emotionally Intelligent Fix
As a startup founder, you want your business to be organized and efficient. Should that extend to your employee's desks?
Don't Build Your Network; Nurture It
Your best source of revenue typically does not involve chasing new customers
Some of the Craziest, Oddest, and Funniest Ads and Campaigns of 2018
Creativity--sometimes good, sometimes really weird--hasn't disappeared from the world of marketing.
What Businesses Can Learn From Theater Companies
The theater is more than a place where you can catch an excellent play. If you're an entrepreneur, there are lessons to learn.
When a Headhunter Makes His Profession Look Bad
Yes, you want to make that placement. That doesn't mean you do underhanded tricks.
6 Rare Things You Can Do to Make Your Life Better This Week (Why Don't More People Do This?)
Plenty of it has to do with your committed to change, if you're willing.
Never Dread Mondays Again at This Workplace
What if work wasn't a drudgery but rather a retreat? This coworking company has renewed and inspired how business gets done.
Is There Any Way Through Mobile Phone Mayhem?
Those few square inches on your screen represent the most valuable real estate ever created. You can try to wedge your way in--and you'd better bring something extra special-- or take a different approach, like Upshow.
The 3 Main Types of Procrastinators, According to Psychology
The signs of which category you're in are easy to spot (and fix).
Hate Meetings? It's Probably Because You're Unprepared
How to prepare for meetings with 4 simple steps.
Why Good Management Doesn't Happen in the Middle of the Standard Distribution
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Monday, November 26, 2018
Are You Willing to Stretch the Truth While Negotiating?
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Get Started With CRUD Operations in PHP MySQL Databases
In this article, we're going to explore how you could use a MySQL database to perform CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations with PHP. If you want to get your hands dirty with database connectivity in PHP, this article is a great starting point.
If you are just getting started with PHP, you probably realize that database connectivity is an essential feature that you'll need to get familiar with sooner or later. In most cases, a database is the backbone of any web application and holds the data of the application. So, as a PHP developer, you'll need to know how to deal with database operations.
In this article, we'll keep things simple and explore how to use the core mysqli functions. In upcoming articles of this series, we'll explore a couple of other ways to handle database connectivity.
Today, we'll go through the basics of database connectivity in PHP, and we'll use the MySQL database as our database back-end. Let's have a quick look at what we'll cover in this article:
- how to set up a database connection
- how to select a database
- how to insert and update records
- how to fetch records
- how to delete records
I assume that you've a working installation of PHP and MySQL, and that you're aware of the basics of MySQL. Also, you'll need to make sure that the mysqli extension is enabled in your PHP installation, since we'll use it to do database operations with the MySQL database.
If you are not sure about the mysqli extension, you can check it using the phpinfo() function. In the phpinfo() output, you can check if there's a section titled mysqli. You should also see the MysqlI Support | enabled header if the mysqli extension is enabled.
There's also an easy way to check it using the CLI interface. You can run the following command to list all extensions that are enabled with your PHP set up.
$php -m
It should print a list of extensions, and if it contains the mysqli keyword, the mysqli extension is enabled.
Now that we're set up, let's start creating a database connection.
How to Set Up a Database Connection
In this section, we'll discuss how you can establish a database connection using the mysqli extension.
There are two ways you can use the mysqli extension, procedural and object-oriented, but we'll use the procedural way in this post to keep things simple. If you're curious about the object-oriented syntax, let me know your questions in the comment section and I'll be happy to answer them.
Firstly, let's go through the syntax of the mysqli_connect function which is used to set up a connection with the MySQL back-end.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
?>
The mysqli_connect function takes four arguments and returns the connection object upon successful connection. Let's go through the each argument:
MYSQL_HOSTNAME: This should be replaced with the MySQL server's host-name or IP address. If you're working with the MySQL server in your local system, you can either uselocalhostor127.0.0.1.MYSQL_USERNAME: The username of your MySQL user.MYSQL_PASSWORD: The password of your MySQL user.MYSQL_DATABASE: The database that you want to connect to.
Upon successful connection, the $connection_obj contains the connection object. With this, you're ready to run queries against the database which was provided to the MYSQL_DATABASE argument.
On the other hand, if the connection is not successful, we can debug it as shown in the following snippet:
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
?>
In the next section, we'll see how you can select a specific database using the connection object.
How to Select a Database
In the previous section, we discussed how to set up a database connection using the mysqli_connect function. In this section, we'll look at how to select a database once the MySQL connection is successful.
Of course, as we've already seen, you can always pass a database in the fourth argument of the mysqli_connect function itself. But, there's also another way you could do this in case you want to change a database after you've connected to MySQL. You can use the mysqli_select_db function to select a database to work with.
Let's revise the example discussed in the previous section to see how it can work.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
mysqli_select_db($connection_obj, "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
?>
As you can see, we've passed only three arguments in the mysqli_connect function, and that should give us a successful database connection. Instead of passing a database in the fourth argument, we select the database using the mysqli_select_db function.
The mysqli_select_db function takes two arguments: the connection object and the database you want to connect to.
How to Create (Insert) and Update Records
In the previous sections, we discussed how to set up a MySQL connection and select a database to work with. Now, we'll look at how to execute different types of queries against the selected database. First, let's look at how to insert and update records.
If you want to follow along with examples discussed in this article, you'll need to create the following MySQL table in your database. It's the table which we're going to use in all the examples form now on.
CREATE TABLE `employee` ( `id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, `name` varchar(50) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL, `email` varchar(50) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL, `phone` varchar(50) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`id`) ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
Executing the above command in your MySQL database should create the employee table.
How to Create Records
To keep things simple, we'll initialize values that need to be inserted into the employee table in the beginning of the script. However, in most of the cases, these would come from user input in the $_POST variables submitted using a form.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
// initialize variables for the insert query
$name = 'John Smith';
$email = 'john.smith@yahoo.com';
$phone = '541-754-1234';
// prepare the insert query
$query = "INSERT INTO employee(`name`,`email`, `phone`)
VALUES ('". mysqli_real_escape_string($connection_obj, $name) ."','". mysqli_real_escape_string($connection_obj, $email) ."','". mysqli_real_escape_string($connection_obj, $phone) ."')";
// run the insert query
mysqli_query($connection_obj, $query);
// close the db connection
mysqli_close($connection_obj);
?>
In the above script, we've first initialized variables that we’re going to use in the insert query. Next, we've prepared the insert query and assigned it into the $query variable.
It's important to note that we've used the mysqli_real_escape_string function to escape string values that we’re going to use in the insert query. You must use this function when you’re dealing with string values submitted via $_POST variables. This ensures that your users don't inject malicious code into to your database queries.
Finally, we ran the insert query using the mysqli_query function. The mysqli_query function is used to run a query against the active database. To wrap things up, we used the mysqli_close function to close the active connection.
How to Update Records
In the previous section, we discussed how you can insert new records in the MySQL table. In this section, we'll see how you can update a record which already exists in the table.
I assume that there's already a record exists in the employee table, and the id of that record is 1. In the following example, we're going to update a record which has a value of 1 in the id column.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
// initialize variables for the insert query
$id = 1;
$phone = '333-555-4444';
// prepare the insert query
$query = "UPDATE employee SET `phone` = '". mysqli_real_escape_string($connection_obj, $phone) ."' WHERE `id` = '". (int) $id ."'";
// run the insert query
mysqli_query($connection_obj, $query);
// close the db connection
mysqli_close($connection_obj);
?>
As you can see in the above example, we want to update the phone column of the employee table where id is 1. This is very similar to the insert query, except that we're using UPDATE instead of INSERT.
How to Retrieve Records
So far, we've discussed how to insert and update records in the MySQL table. In this section, we'll see how to retrieve (fetch) records from the MySQL table.
Take a look at the following example.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
// prepare the select query
$query = "SELECT * FROM employee";
// execute the select query
$result = mysqli_query($connection_obj, $query) or die(mysqli_error($connection_obj));
// run the select query
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_BOTH)) {
echo "ID:" . $row['id'] . "<br/>";
echo "Name:" . $row['name'] . "<br/>";
echo "Phone:" . $row['phone'] . "<br/>";
echo "Email:" . $row['email'] . "<br/>";
echo "<br/>";
}
// close the db connection
mysqli_close($connection_obj);
?>
The first thing that you need to do in order to fetch records from a database is to execute the select query using the mysqli_query function. Upon successful execution of the select query, the mysqli_query function returns the mysqli result object, and that's what we've stored in the $result variable above.
Next, we iterate over the result set using the mysqli_fetch_array function in a while loop. The mysqli_fetch_array function fetches a single row at a time from the mysqli result set.
The mysqli_fetch_array function takes two arguments—the result object and result type. The result type indicates what type of array will be returned from the mysqli_fetch_array function. It could be numeric, associative or both. It's an optional argument and you can pass one of these three values—MYSQLI_ASSOC, MYSQLI_NUM, or MYSQLI_BOTH. MYSQLI_ASSOC indicates that you want to access columns by their name, and MYSQLI_NUM indicates that you want to access columns by their column number.
If you pass the MYSQLI_NUM value in the second argument of the mysqli_fetch_array function, you can access columns as $row[0], $row[1] and so on. In our case, we've passed the MYSQLI_BOTH value, so we can access columns in both ways. If you want to access only associative values, you can use the mysqli_fetch_assoc function instead.
In the next and last section, we'll see how to delete records from a database.
How to Delete Records
In this section, we'll see how to delete records from a database.
Take a look at the following example.
<?php
$connection_obj = mysqli_connect("{MYSQL_HOSTNAME}", "{MYSQL_USERNAME}", "{MYSQL_PASSWORD}", "{MYSQL_DATABASE}");
if (!$connection_obj) {
echo "Error No: " . mysqli_connect_errno();
echo "Error Description: " . mysqli_connect_error();
exit;
}
// initialize variables for the delete query
$id = 1;
// prepare the insert query
$query = "DELETE FROM employee WHERE `id` = '". (int) $id ."'";
// run the delete query
mysqli_query($connection_obj, $query);
// close the db connection
mysqli_close($connection_obj);
?>
As you can see, it works pretty much the same as the insert and update queries. The mysqli_query function executes the DELETE query, and that eventually deletes the record from the employee table.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored how you can use the MySQL database with PHP. This article was intended to provide you with a basic knowledge of MySQL database connectivity in PHP to beginners. We saw how to go from setting up a database connection to executing different types of queries.
Feel free to post your feedback and queries using the feed below.
Displaying the Date and Time in the WordPress Loop
Adding the date and time to the WordPress Loop seems like a simple enough task, right?
Well, yes. It can be a case of coding a simple template tag and letting WordPress do the work for you. But sometimes you can run into problems along the way.
In this quick tip, I'll show you the different functions WordPress gives you for displaying the date and time, and tell you which ones to use if you run into snags.
The Available Template Tags
WordPress gives you four functions to output the date and/or time. These are:
the_date().By default it will echo the date of the post in the formatF j, Y, so if the post was published on 20 November 2018, it would echo November 20, 2018.get_the_date()- this fetches the date and doesn't echo it out. To echo it, you'd useecho get_the_date()which gives you the same result asthe_date(). It's useful if you're already usingechoin your code. It can also help you get round the problem of dates not being displayed, as you'll see shortly.the_time()andget_the_time()- these fetch the time by default, but if you specify date formatting, you can also include the date. You could even this just to output the date if you configured the formatting to do so, but it would more sense to usethe_date()orecho get_the_date().
Formatting the Date
Each function has a default format, which you can override if you need to. To do this, you'll need to use standard PHP date and time formatting.
Here are some examples, all for a post published on 20 November 2018.
the_date()would output November 20, 2018 by default.echo get_the_date( l, S M Y )would output Tuesday, 20th Nov 2018.the_time( 'g:i a' )would output 2:03 pm.echo get_the_time( 'G:i' )would output 14:03.the_time( 'g:i a, D, j F y' )would output 2:03pm, Tues, 20 November 18.
Troubleshooting Dates in the Loop: Missing Dates in an Archive Page
If your'e using the_date() to output dates on an archive page, and you find that the date isn't being displayed with some posts, that's because the_date() doesn't repeat the date for subsequent posts published on the same day as a first.
Sometimes you might want to keep it like this, if you don't want to repeat the date for every post published that day.
But if you want to ensure that all posts have their date output with the title and any other content you're outputting, you'll need to use another function. You can use any of the other three functions above.
The simplest option is to replace the_date() with echo get_the_date(). If you wanted to add the time, either the_time() or echo get_the_time() will work.
Note: If you're puzzled by the fact that the_date() throws up this problem, but the_time() doesn't, it's because posts published on the same date weren't published at the same time. You'd have to go to a lot of effort, either scheduling posts, editing the publication times, or co-ordinating efforts between two bloggers, for that to happen!
I had this problem in the front page template of a theme I coded for a client. In this template were a number of loops, all leading to different content types on the site and all coded using WP_Query. The problem wasn't apparent until the day they added two posts, (not something they normally did). They were puzzled as to why the second post's date didn't appear on the home page, and kept editing it, refreshing it and republishing it until they gave up and asked me.
Here's the original code:
<ul class="newsletters">
<?php $query = new WP_Query( array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'category_name' => 'newsletters',
'posts_per_page' => 8
) );
while ($query->have_posts()) : $query->the_post(); ?>
<li class="home newsletter"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?> - <?php the_date( 'j F' ); ?></a></li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ul>
I edited the one function so it read like this:
<ul class="newsletters">
<?php $query = new WP_Query( array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'category_name' => 'newsletters',
'posts_per_page' => 8
) );
while ($query->have_posts()) : $query->the_post(); ?>
<li class="home newsletter"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?> - <?php echo get_the_date( 'j F' ); ?></a></li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ul>
In the line beginning li class="home newsletter", I replaced the_date( 'j, F' ) with echo get_the_date( 'j, F' ). It fixed the problem.
So if you ever find that dates aren't showing up in your archives, this might be the solution.
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Let me begin this post by saying that almost no event is truly random. Even the outcome of a classic coin toss could in theory be predicted if we knew the effect of every factor involved, like air friction, gravity, and initial force.
The same thing is applicable to the generation of random numbers and alphanumeric strings. The best we can hope for is to generate numbers and strings that don't seem to follow a pattern and can't be practically predicted by an attacker.
In this tutorial, we will cover different techniques for generating random numbers and alphanumeric strings in PHP. Some of them will be cryptographically secure, while others are meant only for casual use, like assigning pseudo-random file names or creating URLs and suggesting usernames.
Generating Random Numbers in PHP
There are three different functions for generating random numbers in PHP. All of them will accept a minimum and maximum possible value for the random numbers and output a random number for you. These are rand($min, $max), mt_rand($min, $max), and random_int($min, $max).
With rand(), the minimum and maximum values of integers you can generate lie between 0 and the value returned by getrandmax(). Before PHP 7.1.0, this function was about four times slower than mt_rand(). However, starting from PHP 7.1.0, it has been made an alias of mt_rand(). Unlike mt_rand(), though, you can set the value of $max to be lower than $min without causing an error.
With mt_rand(), the minimum and maximum values of integers you can generate lie between 0 and the value returned by mt_getrandmax(). It relies on an implementation of the Mersenne Twister to generate random numbers. Watch out, though—prior to PHP 7.1.0, this function implemented an incorrect version of the algorithm to generate the numbers. However, it has been fixed in newer versions.
The function became even better in PHP 7.2.0 by getting rid of a modulo bias bug. This means that for some particular seeds, your sequence of random numbers will now be slightly better compared to older versions. Some specialized code might actually rely on this bias, though. If so, you can use the older seed algorithm by calling the mt_srand() function to seed the random number generator and passing MT_RAND_PHP as the value of the second parameter.
The mt_rand() function has a period of 219937−1, which basically means that in best case scenarios you get as many as 219937−1 random numbers before the sequence starts repeating. You should note that repetition of a sequence is not the same as repetition of a particular number. In other words, you might get the same random number twice, but that does not mean that the sequence itself has started repeating. The following sequence is an example:
187 3276 1267 15 1267 34598 3467 125 17
In the above sequence, we had 1267 twice in the output, but that does not mean that the whole sequence started repeating after that. It's unlikely to get the same number repeated so soon in a random sequence, but it is possible!
Cryptographically Secure Random Integers
If you want cryptographically secure pseudo-random numbers, the random_int() function in PHP is your best bet. It will generate random numbers between the provided $min and $max values, which default to PHP_INT_MIN and PHP_INT_MAX. Unfortunately, this function is only available starting from PHP 7.0. For versions before that, you can use this polyfill on GitHub.
Random Floats
Instead of generating random integers, you might also want to generate floats. This can be done effortlessly by simply dividing a random number with a value returned by mt_getrandmax(). The following example will illustrate how to generate a random float between 0 and 1 or between any other minimum and maximum limits.
<?php
// Output: 0.69458310943776
echo mt_rand(0, mt_getrandmax())/mt_getrandmax();
function mt_random_float($min, $max) {
$float_part = mt_rand(0, mt_getrandmax())/mt_getrandmax();
$integer_part = mt_rand($min, $max - 1);
return $integer_part + $float_part;
}
// Output: 10.199064863938
echo mt_random_float(10, 11);
// Output: 35.540808309121
echo mt_random_float(15, 50);
?>
When generating a random float between given limits, we make sure that the random integer numbers do not go above $max - 1. This way, we can be sure that adding the float part will not take the number above the maximum limit.
Seeding the Random Number Generators
One concept that needs a little bit of explanation is seeds. Put simply, these are just numbers that can be used to initialize the rand() and mt_rand() functions before generating any random numbers. The function which seeds rand() is called srand($seed), and the function which seeds mt_rand() is called mt_srand($seed, $mode).
It's important to remember that providing an initial seed value every single time before calling rand() and mt_rand() won't necessarily produce better random numbers. In fact, using the same seed each time will give you the same random number as well!
<?php mt_srand(10); // Output: 1656398468 echo mt_rand(); mt_srand(10); // Output: 1656398468 echo mt_rand(); mt_srand(10); // Output: 1656398468 echo mt_rand(); ?>
Seeding a random number is useful in situations where you want to generate a random but reproducible sequence. The following code snippet generates the same sequence of random numbers when run twice.
<?php
mt_srand(10);
$count = 0;
while($count < 10) {
echo mt_rand(0, 100)." ";
$count++;
}
// Output on First Run:
// 68 58 68 13 3 48 30 37 96 82
// Output on Second Run:
// 68 58 68 13 3 48 30 37 96 82
Generating reproducible random sequences this way can help debug programs which were being tested using random data—if you keep track of the seed, you can reproduce the same input to figure out what went wrong.
Generating Random Alphanumeric Strings in PHP
There are many ways to generate random alphanumeric strings, and what you use will depend on your needs.
Generate Shuffled Strings
If you want to generate random alphanumeric strings from a fixed set of characters, you can use the str_shuffle($string) function. This function will provide you a randomly shuffled string. Starting from PHP 7.1, the algorithm which determines the random order of characters in the output string has been changed to the Mersenne Twister.
Remember that the random string generated this way is not cryptographically secure. However, the string will still be pretty unpredictable for common use like generating random file names or URLs. Here are a few examples:
<?php $permitted_chars = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'; // Output: 54esmdr0qf echo substr(str_shuffle($permitted_chars), 0, 10); $permitted_chars = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'; // Output: video-g6swmAP8X5VG4jCi.mp4 echo 'video-'.substr(str_shuffle($permitted_chars), 0, 16).'.mp4'; ?>
Your output will most probably be different in both cases. In the first case, we just shuffled the permitted characters string and then took the first 10 characters of it. In the second case, we added "video" at the beginning of the generated string and ".mp4" at the end.
This method of generating random alphanumeric strings is very easy, but it has a couple of issues. For example, you will never get the same characters in your random string twice. Also, the length of the random output string can only be as long as the input string.
Generate Random Strings
If the problems I listed above are a deal breaker, you might want to look at some other implementations. The following code will solve both these problems.
<?php
$permitted_chars = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
function generate_string($input, $strength = 16) {
$input_length = strlen($input);
$random_string = '';
for($i = 0; $i < $strength; $i++) {
$random_character = $input[mt_rand(0, $input_length - 1)];
$random_string .= $random_character;
}
return $random_string;
}
// Output: iNCHNGzByPjhApvn7XBD
echo generate_string($permitted_chars, 20);
// Output: 70Fmr9mOlGID7OhtTbyj
echo generate_string($permitted_chars, 20);
// Output: Jp8iVNhZXhUdSlPi1sMNF7hOfmEWYl2UIMO9YqA4faJmS52iXdtlA3YyCfSlAbLYzjr0mzCWWQ7M8AgqDn2aumHoamsUtjZNhBfU
echo generate_string($permitted_chars, 100);
?>
You can modify it to add particular suffixes and prefixes to the generated random string. People who are using PHP 7 can improve the string generation further by using the cryptographically secure function random_int() instead of mt_rand().
Generate Random Hexadecimal Strings
If you want to generate random hexadecimal strings in PHP, you can also use either the md5($string, $raw_output) or the sha1($string, $raw_output) function. Both of them will generate hashes of a given input string.
You will keep getting unique hashes as long as the input is unique. This could be achieved by using the output of a function like time() as the input. By default, md5() will return a 32-character hexadecimal string, and sha1() will return a 40-character hexadecimal string. These can be trimmed to a specific length using the substr() function.
Here is an example of the output returned by these functions:
<?php // Output: 36e5e490f14b031e echo substr(md5(time()), 0, 16); // Output: aa88ef597c77a5b3 echo substr(sha1(time()), 0, 16); // Output: 447c13ce896b820f353bec47248675b3 echo md5(time()); // Output: 6c2cef9fe21832a232da7386e4775654b77c7797 echo sha1(time()); ?>
As you can see, generating random and unique hexadecimal strings up to 40 characters long is very easy in PHP.
Generate Cryptographically Secure Random Strings
The three functions to generate random alphanumeric strings that we have discussed so far are not cryptographically secure. Luckily, PHP also has a function called random_bytes($length) to generate cryptographically secure pseudo-random bytes. The $length parameter determines how long the output string should be.
Once you have the output in terms of random bytes, you can use the bin2hex() function to convert them to hexadecimal values. This will double the length of the string.
<?php // Output: b7b33efa07915b60ad55 echo bin2hex(random_bytes(10)); // Output: a2e6cb1f25616324c8a11a2cceb0b47c590949ea echo bin2hex(random_bytes(20)); // Output: 25af3b86e11884ef5e8ef70a0ad06cba81b89ed6af3781a0 echo bin2hex(random_bytes(24)); ?>
Another function that you can use to generate cryptographically secure random bytes is openssl_random_pseudo_bytes($length, &$crypto_strong). The value of the second parameter can be used to determine if the output string will be generated using a cryptographically secure algorithm or not.
Final Thoughts
In this tutorial, we looked at the generation of random numbers and alphanumeric strings in PHP. Generating random numbers can be useful in a variety of situations, like in games where you have to spawn enemy players or randomly give users some clues about letters so they can form a whole word.
Just like random numbers, the generation of random alphanumeric strings can also be pretty helpful in many circumstances. With the help of str_shuffle(), you can choose which set of characters appear in your random strings. With sha1() and md5(), you can easily generate random hexadecimal sequences, and with random_bytes() you can generate cryptographically secure strings. This will allow you to generate meaningful yet randomized filenames and usernames that are hard to guess.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments.
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If you haven't already made plans, here are some ways to honor our most innovative class.
These Are the 10 New York City Startups to Watch in 2019
These Silicon Alley companies are making waves across a wide range of industries.
5 Easy Ways to Make Your Business More Eco-Friendly
With a few new policies and buy-in from your team, you can reduce your company's carbon footprint--as well as your energy costs.
Amazon Just Announced a New Product Nobody Expected. Here's the Surprising Way Its New Competitors Reacted
They didn't think they'd be facing Amazon. But their reaction is a big surprise.
Monday, November 19, 2018
How Blockchain Technologies Can Enhance Cross-Industry Transparency
How Blockchain Technologies Can Enhance Cross-Industry Transparency - Interview with Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance.
With 1 Incredible Gesture, IKEA Just Showed What It Means to Be Human. Here's Why It's Good For Business, Too
How many businesses would voluntarily do this?
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