Joomla Gaming

Running my website (soon to be websites) is one thing, but I think I'm missing an important skill...knowing php and other web development languages. I know a lot about HTML (who doesn't), but that pretty much ends my knowledge of web development. Since my first web experiment (sliceofmymind.com) is doing ok, I thought about my future and what I can do to further my knowledge of web design/development.

I know a lot of web designers and web developers, some of which are my best friends. When something goes really wrong, I either have to consult them or hire an outside web developer to fix the problem(s). I thought about hiring a web development team but it is hard for me to justify when my website is still relatively unknown. Most of my friends are pushing me to learn php (it isn't as hard as it looks), but with my limited spare time I am not sure if I can learn it but here I am asking independent coders like Vanama and Tinker some questions.

How did you two (Vanama and Tinker) learn php? Are you self-taught or learned through school? What is the best (free and paid) resources to learn php for someone who only has an hour of spare time a day?

I know both of you (again Vanama/Tinker) have other major endeavors you two are working on, but how much would I have to pay you two to be part-time developers for my website(s)?

I don't want to create full blown joomla extensions but having the knowledge to be able to would be nice, this way I can share solutions to problems instead of waiting for others to help me.

I am self-taught. I started because I watched the codes PUArcade and I needed different treatment. And so I could have adjusted myself, I had to look on the internet what I was needed. That helped me mainly php manual and various forums on programming. I also have some friends who are professionally programmed. From them, I know how to program correctly. Another thing is to read several series of php.

I can not say I know how to program, still learning new things and looking for building Web applications and trying to do the thing, and until it does not work, try it on.
PHP is a very large programming language and you can not teach him all by heart, so is the Web good manual.

I'm self taught as well. Learned to do things I wanted out of necessity. My first experiance with coding came when I started the MiSFiTMAME emulation project years ago. I won't call my self a programer, I'm more of a code editor hence the name (Tinker). Though I've coded a few modules and plugins on my own for Joomla I just don't have the discipline to sit down and code a component from scratch. I'm also still have most of my sites based on J1.0.x and haven't really learned the new code for making J1.5.x extensions. Though I have reversed a bunch of J1.5 stuff to work on J1.0.
Google has been a good reference tool to find how pieces of code work when I couldn't figure something out. So yes the Web is an excelent manual.

Thank you two for your answers and advice. I guess I'm going to pick up a few php/javascript books up and then consult the Internet when I need additional help. I basically learned HTML when I was "force" by a client (in the offline world I own and operate a multimedia and OEM PC company) to create a template for their website; I guess since my client assumed that I know so much about PC's that I know how to develop websites.

I know Adobe After Effects and even some Flash (hence the banner on my website), but php seems so foreign to me. Anyway, thank you guys for your advice.

My goal is to alter AUP and tailor it more for my needs (bigger emphasis on levels - i.e. more roleplaying elements to keep users coming back for more).