The php|architect group (magazine, conferences, etc) has kicked off a rebranding of their long-time product line to move it forward and give it a simpler, cleaner look.

Arbi Arzoumani did a wonderful job with php|architect's image (logos, colors and fonts as well as magazine, conference and website design). I've always admired what he did with the brand, especially since he wore so many hats at BP. He was actually in the process of a brand update when musketeers took over. [...] Taking his direction further, I simplified the whole image (logo, fonts and colors) to a more colorful and less cluttered version. I also decided to unify the brand across all product lines, including the magazine, websites, books, summits and conferences.

Additionally, they've changed the "name" used for the company away from "php|architect" to a slightly different format - "php[architect]" to help unify it across the board with other offerings. Don't worry, you'll still be getting the same great content and community events from the group, it's just getting a "fresh coat of paint."

The php|architect group has published their May issue with a wide range of topics covered. The cover story is about microframeworks, but other topics include:

• "Cleared for Takeoff: Getting Off the Ground with Flight" (ndrew Podner)
• "Learning How to Learn" (Joel Clermont)
• "Avoiding System Dependency by Decoupling Your Dev Environment" (Jacques Woodcock)
• "Education Station: Simple HTTP Clients with Guzzle" (Matthew Setter)

You can pick up this single issue for $4.99 USD or you can subscribe to the full year of PDFs for $35 USD.

The php|architect magazine has released their latest issue - the April 2013 edition focusing on security:

The April issue is out and it's all about Security! We cover the gambit of topics including two-factor authentication, password hashing and securing file uploads. All our regular columns also appear, making this a jam-packed magazine full of PHP goodness.

Articles in this month's edition include:

• Securing File Uploads - Chris Tankersley
• Best Practices for Password Hashing in PHP - John Congdon
• Security-driven Development - Beth Tucker-Long
• When a Password Isn't Enough: Two-factor Authentication and You - Chris Stone

Check out the php|architect site for more info on picking up your own copy.

The March issue of php|architect magazine has been published and this month it's all about APIs. Articles in this issue include:

• Building APIs in Zend Framework 2 (Chris Tankersley)
• Good API Design Is Not a Fairy Tale (Keith Casey)
• API Documentation and Testing with I/O Docs (Jason McCreary)
• Education Station: Fix Poorly Written Legacy Code with PHP-CS-Fixer (Matthew Setter)
• (Re)Introducing Magento: Configuration XML (Ben Marks)

You can pick up this single issue for about $5 USD or you can subscribe for a full 12 issues (PDF edition).

The February issue of the php|architect magazine has been published with a focus on community. This latest release includes articles like:

• "Running a PHP User Group" (John Congdon)
• "I'm the Organizer, Now What?" (Chris Stone)
• "Hackathons: Five Steps to Awesome Sauce" (Matthew Davis)
• "The Case For Open Source Software Contribution" (Andrew Podner)
• "Bug Zapper: ZendFormForm a New Friend?" (Bart McLeod)

You can order a single issue for about $5 USD or you can get a full year's subscription for just $35 USD. To check out some of the back issues, take a look in their archives.

php|architect has published their latest issue, the January 2013 edition of the magazine with the theme of "Testing and Standards". Articles in this new issue include:

• "Coding Conventions" from Andrew Podner
• "Properly Documenting Your Code" by Chris Tankersley
• "Testing in PHP" by Jeff Carouth
• "Education Station: Markup? Markdown!" by Matthew Setter
• "Shop Talk: (Re)Introducing Magento" from Ben Marks

You can pick up the single issue for about $5 USD or you can get a 1 year subscription to get this and more great issues - Basic is $35 USD and Premium is $65 USD.

On 7PHP.com today Khayrattee Wasseem has posted an interview with Musketeers.me about their recent move to being the owners of the php|architect brand and all of its products/events.

If you were having a sky-diving on planet Mars since the past months, or if you were too enthusiastic in getting lost within The Hobbit's World - wake up Sid! There's news concerning PHP Land! On "its" 10th birthday, last December 2012, your "PHP Magazine for PHP Professionals" (The one & only PHP|Architect) announced on its portal that it's brand, owned by BlueParabola, is being 'safely & soundly' handed over to The PHP Musketeers aka Musketeers.me for a smooth and more dynamic life.

In the interview they talk about things like:

• The motivation behind the acquisition
• Positives and negatives of the brand as they see them
• Future plans for the magazine and brand
• What they see as the overall goals for php|architect
• What kind of challenges they see in the road ahead

You can read the full interview here and find out more about this change on the php|architect site.

The December issue of php|architect magazine has been released, the final issues brought to you by the current php|architect crew (see here for more info on that). Articles included in this issue include:

• Introducing PHP to the Hubble Space Telescope Program - Eli White
• 30 Stupid (But Useful) PHP Tricks and Tips - Elizabeth Smith
• Getting Organized: Namespaces for PHP Applications - Andrew Podner
• Performance: PHP Isn't All You Need For Fast Web Apps - Matthew Setter
• Bug Zapper: A New Adventure - Bart McLeod

You can pick up you copy (or subscribe) on the php|architect site.

If you've been around the PHP community for any length of time (or even at all it seems) you've probably heard of or seen something about php|architect - the magazine, their training and even their popular annual conference, php|tek. News came out yesterday that the php|architect group has been acquired by Musktreers.me (several of which happen to be well-known PHP community members).

Over the course of the last ten years, our focus has always been education-not just of our readers and customers, but also our own. We taught ourselves about publishing, organizing events, training, and dealing with people from all walks of life. Many of the things we learned were fun, and some not so much; all were very interesting. Most of all, we have learned to rely on the PHP community, which we watched grow and evolve alongside our favourite language.

[...] Thus, as the end of our first decade in business approaches and we have decided that we must move on, it's important for us to know that php|architect will remain in good hands. We are happy to announce that, effective January 1st, Musketeers.me LLC will take over the php|architect brand and all activities associated with it, including our magazine, books, training, and events.

You can find some more personal reflections from other members of the php|architect staff on their own blogs - Marco Tabini and Beth Tucker Long - and the official mention on the Musketeers.me blog.

In this new post to his blog Brandon Savage mentions his book, the PHP Playbook (php|architect), and how he's giving away several free copies.

When I started writing my book, I wanted to help PHP developers have a greater understanding of the tools, tips and tricks available when working as part of a team. That goal became The PHP Playbook. I'm excited that the book has been so well received, and I'm excited that I've finally received my promotional copies. So, in honor of that, I'm going to give some of them away! I'm even going to sign them!

Just enter in your email address and you'll be put on a mailing list for the book and its future updates. Here's the official description of the book:

Working with a team of developers is a much different environment than solo development. Experienced developers understand the tools and tricks that go into team development enterprises, and they implement them on a daily basis. The PHP Playbook covers these tools and practices, providing insight into the process of developing PHP applications, teaching developers the skills they need to be successful in a team environment.