Since Project 1, I learned a lot more about PHP, including:

• more about how to manipulate PHP arrays
• Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and scripts
• how to use PHP with GET and POST
• how to process forms with PHP
• how to read and write to files in PHP, as well as (f)lock them
• PHP OOP
• session tracking

For Part 1 of this project, I did not use any real PHP outside of taking .php onto the end of my file names in place of .html. But this time, I used PHP for implementing a small madlibs activity and handling a POST request for my contact form.

I also learned about cookies and other forms of user tracking, as well as client-side storage, though I did not use any sort of tracking or client-side storage for my site.

Another topic that was extremely useful to me was how to connect my site to a database. I had already learned how to use MySQL commands from my co-op experience. AJAX was another topic that I learned about, and that and learning how to connect my site to a database were quite useful for implementing a fully functional contact form this time around. For part 1 of this project, the contact form did not submit any information besides through email.

In addition to all of the above, this project helped me to refine my overall web development skills. Not only did I learn from the materials from lecture, but I also learned stuff that I would never have otherwise learned just by completing small assignments. Furthermore, this project has allowed me to create something that I'm actually really proud of. I will most likely actually show this site to potential employers.

• used the Bootstrap framework
• implemented a more effectively animated navbar
• navbar is now responsive to size of screen
• entire site is now responsive to the size of the screen
• otherwise improved appearance through Bootstrap and CSS
• created a sort of landing area as an introduction to the site, rather than just showing my "About Me" at the top
• contact form sends submitted messages to a MySQL database
• added something interactive: madLibs
• link to resume now opens in a new tab instead of the existing one
• added more content (links and stuff about me, in addition to whatever else is in this list)
• implemented an accordion for my links
• more javascript for implementing cool effects (the "Enter" in the landing area does not initially appear on page load)
• used actual PHP
• file-reading and string manipulation are used in the madlibs game