Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I sign up for the conference?

  You should have received an email with an invitation to create your account. Follow the link in that email, choose a display name, set a password, and you are ready to participate in our conference.

  If you have not received an email from us, or do not have access to that email any more, please get in touch with us at team@thephp.cc.

• Do I have to use my real name?

  No, you don't. For legal reasons, we needed your full name to sign you up. However, your real name and email address will never be shown to anybody on the conference website. When creating your account, you define a display name, which does not have to be your real name.

• How about data protection?

  We run the conference on our own software, hosted on our own server. The session chatlog is kept in a local database. Passwords are cryptographically hashed. We use the Google Cloud to amplify our video streams. We do not share any personal information with Google.

• Which browsers do you support?

  We suggest to use a current version of Firefox, but we also successfully tested on Chrome. We are relying on open web standards, so any current browser should work fine, but we cannot guarantee that you will be able to participate in the conference using an outdated browser.

  We tested our conference application on desktop systems and laptops. We are pretty confident that a tablet would work fine, but we advise against using a mobile phone to participate in the conference.

• Can I watch the stream outside the conference website?

  Sorry, no. You need to be logged in to this website to be able to attend the sessions.

• Will the sessions be recorded?

  We will record all sessions and plan to make the majority of recordings available to all attendees free of charge. It is each guest speaker's decision whether they want to allow us to record and publish their talk.

• Do I need a camera? Do I have to turn on my camera?

  You do not need a camera to attend the sessions. The Hallway Track is essentially a kind of video conference. You can also turn your camera off in the Hallway Track, however, and interact with others using audio or text chat only.

• Is the session chat private?

  The session chat is private in the sense that only registered conference attendees can use it. What you write in the chat will be visible to all conference attendees. We therefore suggest you consider this chat a public space and do not share any private information.

• How do I access the Hallway Track?

  You will find a link to the Hallway track on your personal conference home page after logging in to our conference application. You will need a password to enter the Hallway Track, which you will also find there.

• What are the technical requirements for the workshops?

  All workshops will be held as Zoom conferences. While it is possible to participate in a Zoom conference in your browser, we strongly recommend installing the Zoom's official client software ahead of time.

  If your workshop features programming exercises, make sure you have a current version of PHP and your favourite IDE ready.

• How do I access the workshops?

  Workshops will be held as Zoom conferences. While it is possible to participate in a Zoom conference in your browser, we strongly recommend installing the Zoom's official client software ahead of time.

• What about privacy in the Hallway Track?

  We are using an external service for the Hallway Track, so their privacy statement applies. It's a German company, and we have carefully reviewed the privacy statement. We have no reason to doubt their compliance with the GDPR.

  We suggest you consider the Hallway Track a public space, where everything you say and do will be observed by others, even though technically the Hallway Track also features private conversations.

• Will the session chat logs be archived?

  Any text, video or audio conversation in the Hallway Track is temporary and will not be kept anywhere by us.

  A distilled version of the conference session chat logs will be made available for all attendees a few days after the conference. Any personal information, names and chit-chat will be removed, all important information (links, tips) will of course be kept.

• Can I transfer my ticket?

  Let's face it, we cannot control who uses your account credentials to log into our website. So: yes.

• Will the session chat logs be archived?

  Any text, video or audio conversation in the Hallway Track is temporary and will not be kept anywhere by us.

  A distilled version of the conference session chat logs will be made available for all attendees a few days after the conference. Any personal information, names and chit-chat will be removed, all important information (links, tips) will of course be kept.

• Can I watch sessions as a team?

  We cannot keep you from buying just one seat, and assembling the whole team in front of one monitor. We offer group discount rates, so please be fair and talk to us before allowing multiple viewers on one ticket.

• Is there a code of conduct?

  Of course, there is. The short version is: behave decent and be a nice person. A good rule of thumb is not to say or type anything that you would not say if your mother was standing next to you. Except for technical terms maybe.

• Can I get a discount?

  We offer discounts for teams and non-profits, and we sometimes offer special deals for alumni. We also try to give back to the PHP community by offering discount codes and sometimes a free ticket to raffle away in meetups or user group meetings. Just talk to us, especially if you organize a meetup or user group.

• I cannot solve my problem. Where can I get help?

  Email us at team@thephp.cc.