Learning Tools with Purpose 0:00With the initial setup out of the way, you're now ready to learn Laravel. But first, a note on why you're learning Laravel. We don't learn tools for the sake of learning tools. Instead, we learn tools because they help us accomplish something, or they help us solve a particular problem that you currently have. So here's a basic example, but you'll get the idea. You didn't learn how to use a ratchet because you wanted to know how ratchets work. At least, I don't think. You probably learned how to use a ratchet because it helps you mount a TV on the wall. That was the problem you were trying to solve, and the ratchet was the tool that got you there. So with that in mind, if we want to learn something new like Laravel, Defining the Blog Project 0:31That was the problem you were trying to solve, and the ratchet was the tool that got you there. So with that in mind, if we want to learn something new like Laravel, the same thing is going to be true. We need some kind of problem to solve. And in our case, the problem that we're making up here is going to be the most common problem on the web. We need to build a functional blog to promote something in our lives. A ubiquitous example, but maybe to promote your band, or your portfolio, or a new business you're launching. That is our problem, and I'm going to show you how Laravel will help you solve that problem. Reviewing Current Static Layout 0:59or your portfolio, or a new business you're launching. That is our problem, and I'm going to show you how Laravel will help you solve that problem. Now, we've already prepared the basic HTML and CSS for this blog, and you can have a look at it here. This is the overview page, and this is how a single blog post appears. The only problem is, it's not dynamic at all. It doesn't work. It's only the HTML and CSS. We have no clue how to stay in touch with a newsletter. We don't know how to fetch these posts from the database. Identifying Missing Features 1:27We have no clue how to stay in touch with a newsletter. We don't know how to fetch these posts from the database. We don't know how to organize them into categories, or tags, or other filters. We have no idea how to search. And in fact, we don't even know where to begin. But that's okay. That's what we're here to learn Laravel for. That's the problem we're trying to solve. Now, an optional prerequisite, only if you want. If you want to personally write the markup and CSS that you see here, Optional HTML/CSS Prerequisite 1:50Now, an optional prerequisite, only if you want. If you want to personally write the markup and CSS that you see here, you could follow along with the HTML and CSS workshop series. Think of it sort of like an optional prerequisite for Laravel from scratch. But I really do want to stress this. It's entirely optional. Only do this sort of like a bonus, if you want to come along. It's just beyond the scope of a Laravel series. Otherwise, we have it up on GitHub. You can view the HTML here. Pulling Template from GitHub 2:20Otherwise, we have it up on GitHub. You can view the HTML here. And we're going to pull this in as part of our learning. So the choice is yours. But in the next episode, I'm going to get started.
