ShadowMage

I started off programming in 2003 on the urging of some dude from neopets. I initially learned from places like TechTuts and TutorialNinja(formerly RMB-Scripting). After picking up the super basics of php and sql, I went back to pick up html, css and javascript. Somewhere along the way, I picked up Visual Basic and C# for the funsies, video tutorials, and other various sites found via google searching. Back in 2008-2009 I started using frameworks with codeigniter being my first. I’ve since learned basics of LUA and Java and a far deeper knowledge of php/sql. Never not learning something new, i find something, research how I might go about doing it then just trial and error until I get it working how I want it. As of 2014-2015, I started using Laravel as my goto framework for projects and I regret nothing. NetTuts and Laracasts are great resources for learning how it work, and all the rest was just tinkering on and off and a lot of googling.

When I ran my own business I was using Quadranet for a dedicated server. I found a deal they offered on low-end-box for a cheaper server and so we got it. Had it for 3 years with only a couple issues that weren't caused by my mistake, both of which were hardware related. Since the business has closed down, that server went away, and I'm still using them for a dedicated with a couple friends. Excellent service, If you're thinking about looking through low-end-box I advise you to be very careful of VPS providers unless they are a bigger company. There are a lot of scams going around and my friend and I got hit with it. Not fun having to go back in backups by 3 months. Interestingly enough, Through Quadranet you can get a VPS as well through their InfraCloud services. Was hosting a UniFi controller on one as opposed to a cloudkey on our customers sites, and it was very reliable.

@judda The package adds the the ability to add permissions to roles and users themselves through a call to the user object such as $user->givePermissionTo('edit profile'); or, $user->assignRole('Premium'); Like other packages (I assume. Only used this and zizaco/entrust), all permissions are registered to laravel's gate so you can use the native $user->can('do this permission') function or the blade directive for it. Here is the documentation for the package as well

I am very particular with how a website works, so I feel the need to have a complete system to manage roles with permissions down to the nitty gritty such as sending messages, posting shouts, forum posts etc. While Laravel has spatie's laravel-permissions package to make it just a tiny bit easier, It's still a pain in the arse to manually define each and every permission, then assign them to roles, and all of that fun stuff. But I'd also have to agree with form submission / validation.