Ash Allen

findapr.iofindapr.io - Find Your First Laravel PRView a curated list of issues so that you can make your very first contribution to open-source Laravel and PHP projects.

5 Sept

I've just pushed some updates to Find A PR (findapr.io): ✅ Upgraded to Laravel 13 ✅ Upgraded to Livewire 4 ✅ Added Composer and NPM security GitHub Actions workflows

ashallendesign.co.ukFixing PHPStan Issues in Livewire Components with Larastan-LivewireRead about how to use `calebdw/larastan-livewire` package to solve PHPStan issues related to using Livewire computed properties. We look at a real-life example of how I used it to solve my own issue.

3 Sept

Fixing PHPStan Issues in Livewire Components with Larastan-Livewire 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/larasta...

ashallendesign.co.ukThe `clamp` Function in PHP 8.6Learn about the new "clamp" function in PHP 8.6 and how it can be used with different data types. We also discuss how to use "clamp" in your PHP and Laravel projects before PHP 8.6 is released.

28 July

The `clamp` Function in PHP 8.6 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/php-86-...

11 June

🔥 In PHP, you can use the "set" property hook to validate a value before setting it! Have you used property hooks in your PHP projects yet? Here's a simple example of only allowing an enum property to be set to specific enum cases:

ashallendesign.co.ukPHP 8.4 Property HooksRead about the upcoming "property hooks" feature that will be added in PHP 8.4.

11 June

If you want to learn more about property hooks, I've got a detailed article about them that you might be interested in: ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/php-84-...

4 June

Fun PHP question: Without cheating, what does the second line output? 😄

Ash Allen reposted

MadeWithLaravel

@madewithlaravel.com

17 Apr

Laravel Exchange Rates by @ashallendesign.co.uk allows you to get exchange rates & convert values between different currencies 💸🔄 - madewithlaravel.com/laravel-exch...

9 Apr

I've just made a PR to Laravel! ⚡ It proposes a new "Via" attribute which could be added to notification classes. It can be used to define hardcoded notification channels without requiring a "via" method. Is this something you'd use if it were merged? 😄

9 Apr

Link to the PR: github.com/laravel/fram...

github.comgithub.com

8 Apr

⚡ As of Laravel 13.4.0, you can use "FormRequest::failOnUnknownFields" to enable errors which will be thrown if unknown fields are passed in requests! Is this something you think you'd use in your own projects? 😄

8 Apr

Alternatively, you can enable the feature on a class-by-class basis like so:

3 Apr

These are always the best emails to see when you start your day! 🎉

Ash Allen reposted

Freek Van der Herten

@freek.bsky.social

25 Mar

I love seeing Mailcoach being used when I subscribe to a newsletter.

23 Mar

My Short URL package is really close to hitting 2 MILLION installs! I think it'll hit it at the end of April 😄🎉

23 Mar

Thanks for sharing this! I'm still super proud of this book. I've got it open on my desk most days so I can refer back to it 😄

MadeWithLaravel@madewithlaravel.com

Learn how to confidently integrate third-party APIs in your Laravel projects using maintainable & testable code with this eBook by @ashallendesign.co.uk 📖 - madewithlaravel.com/consuming-ap...

17 Mar

I've just hit SEND on my latest newsletter issue! It should be landing in your inboxes soon 😄

13 Mar

It's been a busy morning! I've just updated all my Laravel packages to support Laravel 13 (and a few other small updates) 😄

ashallendesign.co.ukReduce Duplicate Cache Queries in Laravel with "Cache::memo()"Learn about how to use the "Cache::memo()" method to memoise cache values and improve performance in your Laravel applications.

21 Jan

Reduce Duplicate Cache Queries in Laravel with "Cache::memo()" 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/laravel...

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioHow to Send Telegram Messages in Laravel | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

21 Jan

How to Send Telegram Messages in Laravel by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/how-to-send-telegram-messages-in-laravel

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioMemoisation in Laravel Using the "once" Helper | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

20 Jan

Memoisation in Laravel Using the "once" Helper by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/memoisation-in-laravel-using-the-once-helper

ashallendesign.co.ukHow to Send Telegram Messages in LaravelIn this article, we'll look at how to send Telegram messages from a Laravel application using the "laravel-notification-channels/telegram" package. We'll also look at the different types of Telegram m...

20 Jan

How to Send Telegram Messages in Laravel 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/laravel...

ashallendesign.co.ukMemoisation in Laravel Using the "once" HelperIn this article, we'll discuss how to use the "once" helper in Laravel to memoise data. We'll also look at how the "once" helper works with Laravel Octane applications and alternative approaches you c...

19 Jan

Memoisation in Laravel Using the "once" Helper 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/laravel...

16 Jan

⚡ You can use the "once" helper to memoise data in Laravel! The result of the closure will be stored on the first call. Then all future calls will return the stored result. When used in the right places, this can lead to some nice performance gains.

16 Jan

I've just finished writing an article about memoisation in Laravel which covers: 👉 Using the "once" helper 👉 Using "once" in methods and static methods 👉 How "once" is handled in Octane apps 👉 Alternatives to "once" Hoping to publish it on Monday 😄

15 Jan

My latest freelance contract has just come to an end this week. So I'm now available to take on new Laravel projects/work! If you're on the lookout for a Laravel dev with plenty of experience, feel free to give me a shout! 😎

14 Jan

What's the first package you install when you start a new Laravel project? For me, it's usually Rector or PHPStan 😄

youtu.beBuilding a Laravel Feature with Junie in PhpStormYouTube video by Ash Allen

14 Jan

Building a Laravel Feature with Junie in PhpStorm 🚀 P.s. - Please excuse the poor audio quality. I only realised during editing that I'd been using my Mac's mic rather than my actual mic. Ooops haha! youtu.be/9HYYpuu_nXc?...

ashallendesign.co.ukHow AI Will Impact My Job as a Freelance Web Developer in 2026Read my opinions about how I think AI will impact my job as a freelance web developer and content creator in 2026. I discuss how I'm currently using AI in my workflow and how I think that might change...

13 Jan

How AI Will Impact My Job as a Freelance Web Developer in 2026 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/web-dev...

8 Jan

🔥 If you're using job batches in Laravel, the "job_batches" database table can grow quite quickly. To solve this, you can schedule the "queue:prune-batches" command. I've just added this to @findapr after I noticed the table contained a ton of old rows (approx 28k rows) 😄

7 Jan

Fun little quiz: Without cheating, what will the last line output in PHP? This is something which used to catch me out all the time! 👀

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioFormatting PHP Code with PHP CS Fixer | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

18 Dec 2025

Formatting PHP Code with PHP CS Fixer by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/formatting-php-code-with-php-cs-fixer

ashallendesign.co.ukFormatting PHP Code with PHP CS FixerRead about how to use PHP CS Fixer to automate the formatting of your PHP code. We'll also explore how to use PHP CS Fixer in parallel mode and create a GitHub Actions workflow which checks the code s...

18 Dec 2025

Formatting PHP Code with PHP CS Fixer 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/php-cs-...

9 Dec 2025

What level do you run PHPStan at in your projects? I've personally found level 5 or 6 to be the sweet spot (especially when adding it to existing projects) 😄

9 Dec 2025

I've just hit a mini-milestone with my Email Utilities package: It's crossed 100 stars on GitHub! ⭐ It's really close to hitting its first 1,000 downloads, too. I've just checked and it's been installed 995 times 👀

3 Dec 2025

I've just released Email Utilities for Laravel v1.1.0! 🎉 This release includes: ✅ Artisan command that can be used to update the disposable domain list (shown in the screenshot) ✅ Caching to improve performance ✅ An updated list of disposable domains (4932 domains!) [1/2]

github.comRelease v1.1.0 · ash-jc-allen/email-utilitiesWhat's Changed Added an email-utilities:fetch-disposable-domains Artisan command to fetch the latest disposable email domains list by @onlime and @ash-jc-allen in #12 and #20 Added a static cache ...

3 Dec 2025

Huge thank you to Philip Lezzi for your contributions and help with this release. I really appreciate it! Release notes: github.com/ash-jc-allen... [2/2]

3 Dec 2025

The PR didn't get merged! But I'm planning on writing an article soon to show how you can use Mailtrap for: 👉 Sending single emails in Laravel 👉 Sending bulk emails in Laravel 👉 Testing Laravel emails using Mailtrap sandboxes Aiming to publish it next week 😄

Ash Allen@ashallendesign.co.uk

I've just made a PR to Laravel to propose first-party support for sending transactional email with Mailtrap! Is this something you might use? 😄 👉 PR: github.com/laravel/fram...

2 Dec 2025

I've just made a PR to Laravel to propose first-party support for sending transactional email with Mailtrap! Is this something you might use? 😄 👉 PR: github.com/laravel/fram...

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioThe Difference Between ?: and ?? in PHP | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

24 Nov 2025

The Difference Between ?: and ?? in PHP by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/the-difference-between-and-in-php

ashallendesign.co.ukThe Difference Between ?: and ?? in PHPLearn about the difference between the ternary operator (?:) and the null coalescing operator (??) in PHP. We'll also discuss a common gotcha that I see developers (myself included) run into when usin...

24 Nov 2025

The Difference Between ?: and ?? in PHP 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/php-ter...

24 Nov 2025

I want to say a huge thank you to Mailtrap for sponsoring me on GitHub! 😄🎉 I've been using Mailtrap for a few years for email testing, and it's always been a great platform. So it's really cool that they're now sponsoring me! Thanks! 🩵

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioImmutable and Mutable Dates in PHP | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

21 Nov 2025

Immutable and Mutable Dates in PHP by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/immutable-and-mutable-dates-in-php

ashallendesign.co.ukImmutable and Mutable Dates in PHPRead about the difference between immutable and mutable dates in PHP. We'll also look at a common gotcha I've experienced when using mutable dates and how to avoid it.

20 Nov 2025

Immutable and Mutable Dates in PHP 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/php-dates

Ash Allen reposted

laravel.ioEmail Utilities for Laravel v1.0 Released! | Laravel.ioThe Laravel portal for problem solving, knowledge sharing and community building.

17 Nov 2025

Email Utilities for Laravel v1.0 Released! by @ashallendesign.co.uk https://laravel.io/articles/email-utilities-for-laravel-v10-released

ashallendesign.co.ukBlack Friday 2025 - Up to 50% off!Get up to 50% off my books with Black Friday 2025 discounts. I am offering 30% off "Battle Ready Laravel" and "Consuming APIs in Laravel". I'm also offering 50% off "The Web Dev's Guide to Freelancing...

18 Nov 2025

Black Friday 2025 offer! I'm offering up to 50% off my books 😄 👉 Details and discount codes here: ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/black-f...

ashallendesign.co.ukSaloon vs Guzzle vs SDK vs Http Facade for Laravel API IntegrationsRead about how to decide whether to use Salon, Guzzle, an SDK, or the Http Facade to build API integrations for your Laravel applications. This article is a snippet from my "Consuming APIs in Laravel"...

18 Nov 2025

Saloon vs Guzzle vs SDK vs Http Facade for Laravel API Integrations 🚀 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/saloon-...

17 Nov 2025

When registering for a new website/app, do you prefer to use social sign-ins (e.g., "Sign in with Google") or stick with traditional email and password authentication? 🤔

ashallendesign.co.ukEmail Utilities for Laravel v1.0 Released! 🎉Read about my latest package: Email Utilities for Laravel. It's a small package which can be used to check and validate whether an email address is disposable or role-based.

17 Nov 2025

Email Utilities for Laravel v1.0 Released! 🎉 ashallendesign.co.uk/blog/email-u...

7 Nov 2025

As of Laravel 12.36, you can use the "File::allDirectories" method to get an array of all nested directories (including nested directories) within a given path 🔥