Hi,
I just completed a basic PHP course which was funded by my University, however I feel like I need to really put PHP into practice to get familiar with it and become more confident in writing it myself. As I don't currently have a job which involves PHP, I figure I may as well set myself something to do to get me more experienced.
Does anybody have any suggestions of a simple (not too simple!) project I could set myself which would be suitable to get me more familiar with the language?
Writing a CRUD based web-site - something like a library, personal expense management, a catalog... anything that will make you play a little bit more with the language and stuff around it like SQL, for example. Adding authentication and authorization for the users will increase the difficulty but make the task more like a real one. And yet any time you can use frameworks for these things.
Have a look at Model-View-Controller design pattern, as it is the common way of developing web applications in a structured manner.
P.S. CRUD - Create, Read, Update, Delete - basic operations with data, that you'd better be familiar how to implement in the best possible way.
When I first learned PHP, I made a bunch of 'gadget' type applications for my personal webpage. They are quite easy to plug in by just importing them.
For example, a random image pulled from a directory of images each day, my class schedule loaded from a plain text file, a public guestbook that uses a text file to store messages, etc.
Also, if you know some SQL or want to learn it, you could make a simple data-driven website that stores information about something, and provides an interface to it with PHP. Something like a used car sales website, or a twitter clone, etc.
The best would be to find something that is useful for others and you enjoy to work on. Make it open source, let people contribute and you may find yourself inside of a community.
Assuming you run windows, download and install WAMP (http://www.wampserver.com/en/) and set up a CRUD site (Create, Retrieve Update, Delete) for a simple MySQL database. If you're feeling comfortable with that, add a login system with differing levels of credentials for (Retrieve) and (Create, Update, Delete)