Configuring Sublime for PHP Development

Word Separators

One of PHP’s most distinctive features is the dollar sign. All variables in PHP start with ‘$’.

e.g.

$var = 123;

In Sublime, if you double click on a variable name to select it the ‘$’ prefix will not get selected.

To fix this you can edit Sublime’s “word_separators” setting.

To change this setting, go to Preferences -> Settings. Then paste this in your user settings and save.

"word_separators": "./\\()\"'-:,.;<>~!@#%^&*|+=[]{}`~?",

Notice the ‘$’ is missing.

Caps Lock to CTRL

When Caps Lock is pressed it is almost always on accident. On the rare occasion I need something in all caps, it is simpler to hold the SHIFT key.

On the other hand, I use CTRL key constantly. One of the first customization I make on new computers is remapping the caps lock key to CTRL.

You can do this on a Mac in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys. And on Linux key remapping can be accomplished by using the Gnome Tweak Tool.

On Windows, key modification is a bit more difficult. On Windows, you need to modify the registry. You can do this manually or there are small applications to help remap keys.

Making ‘$’ Easier to Type

Finally, because of the dollar signs position it is not the easiest key to type. I am looking for an optimization to make that character faster and easier to type. I have not found a good solution yet.

Leave a Reply