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✨ Top Hosting Providers for PHP and Laravel (2023)

It can sometimes be pretty difficult to decide which platform to use for hosting your PHP and Laravel applications. There are a huge number of hosting providers available (with each provider offering an equally huge number of services). So it can be daunting having to decide how and where to host your applications, especially if it's your first time having to do it.

For example, if you're a freelance web developer and want to host your small blog (like myself), you'll likely opt for a completely different hosting option than if you're a large company with a high-traffic website.

Generally, I like to stick with the most popular options that other developers are using. This usually means if I get stuck with something, it's more likely that I can reach out to the community for help than if I was to use an obscure hosting platform that no one has ever heard of.

So I made a poll on Twitter and asked the PHP and Laravel community which hosting provider they use for their own PHP projects. I also asked them to comment if they use a provider that wasn't listed in the poll. I was really pleased to see that we had 1292 votes!

In this Quickfire post, we're going to take a look at the results of the poll and the most popular hosting providers.

👉 Continue reading...

🔒 Integrating Two-Factor Authentication in Laravel with Vonage

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an important part of any application that requires a user to log in. It adds an extra layer of security which can help prevent unauthorised access and protect your users' data.

In this article, we're going to take a look at how we can add 2FA to our Laravel application using the Vonage Verify API. We'll also discuss the benefits of 2FA and how it can help give your users more confidence in your app.

👉 Continue reading...

⚡ Consuming APIs in Laravel

Just a quick update for you all on the progress of my new book "Consuming APIs in Laravel".

I recently finished writing the "Webhooks" section of the book and sent out the first draft for some feedback. The feedback was super helpful and I've used all the suggestions to improve the content.

Huge thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on this section, I really appreciate it! 🔥

The "Webhooks" section has now been sent off to the amazing JD Lien (make sure you follow him on Twitter: @jdlien). He'll be proofreading the book for me and finding all the silly mistakes and typos I've made. JD actually helped me out with Battle Ready Laravel and caught soooooo many mistakes (in the code examples and the writing itself). So it seemed like a no-brainer to get him onboard for my new book! Thanks JD!

Yesterday, I finished writing the first draft of the "Code Techniques" section. So I've sent this out to a few people to get some early feedback. Hopefully, by this time next week I should have made some improvements to this section so I can move on to the "About APIs" section.

The book is going to cover topics such as:

• ✅ Making requests to third-party APIs using Saloon
• ✅ API Authentication
• ✅ OAuth2
• ✅ Data transfer objects
• ✅ Securely handling webhooks
• ✅ Handling API errors
• ✅ Caching API responses to improve performance
• ✅ Rate limiting
• ✅ Pagination

If you join the waiting list, you'll get a 25% discount code when the book is released!

Head over to https://consuming-apis-in-laravel.com to join the waiting list!

Your Ad Here?

Picture this: your business, project, or cool idea featured in the next newsletter(s), reaching an audience of over 5700 engaged and enthusiastic readers!

I'm opening up advertising slots in this newsletter to help support the blog so I can keep writing new content. Whether you're a small business owner, a tech guru, a non-profit powerhouse, or anything in between, I want to try and help you reach as many people as possible!

Be it a product launch, a new service, an upcoming event, or even a shout-out, I'm ready to help broadcast your message.

All you have to do is get in touch! Email me at mail@ashallendesign.co.uk to discuss details, rates, and scheduling.

What are you waiting for? Seize the moment, reach out, and let's make some magic happen together!

P.S. First come, first served! So don't wait, the early bird gets the worm... or in this case, the advertising space!

⚡ Past Blog Posts

Check out some of my blog posts from the past:

👉 Review: Mastering Laravel Validation Rules

👉 Using 'query()' in Laravel Eloquent Queries

👉 How to Use the sole() Method on Laravel Collections

👉 How to Assert Redirects to Signed URLs in Laravel Tests

👉 Writing an Article Using AI in under 30 Minutes (CopyAI)

🎉 Save 20% on Battle Ready Laravel

If you've not already checked out my book Battle Ready Laravel, it might be something that you're interested in.

The book:

• ✅ Covers ways to audit, test, fix, and improve your Laravel applications
• ✅ Contains real-life examples from projects
• ✅ Contains actionable advice that you can start using today
• ✅ Has over 220+ pages of content
• ✅ Is available in light and dark mode
• ✅ Is available as a PDF, EPUB, and physical book
• ✅ Contains around $195 of discount codes to use with Flare, Oh Dear, StyleCI, and Laravel Security In Depth

Use the discount code BATTLE20 to get 20% off the book and bring the cost down to $31.20!

👉 Buy your copy here and save 20%!

🔥 Follow Me On Twitter

If you’re not already following me on Twitter, make sure to follow me at @AshAllenDesign to keep up to date with all my Laravel tips and tricks that I post there!

Keep on building awesome stuff! 🚀

👋 Connect with Me

Twitter: @AshAllenDesign

LinkedIn: Ashley Allen