My PhpStorm Customisations and Settings

This note was updated at 15/12/2022 23:46.

Maybe one day I’ll get round to using a settings repository, but for the moment running through this list takes at most ten minutes with a fresh installation of PhpStorm, so eh.

Plugins

In addition to the plugins that come bundled with PhpStorm, I also use IdeaVim (because I’m one of those people), Key Promoter X, and Laravel Idea.

Removing as much of the interface as possible

I’m also one of these people.

Note: The search functionality in PhpStorm’s Settings window is pretty good, so I haven’t included the whole hierarchy of menus you need to drill down to find a setting.

• Turn on Use contrast scrollbars.
• Turn on Use smaller indents in trees.
• Turn off Show tool window bars.
• Right-click the status bar and turn on the Memory Indicator.
• Turn off Display icons in menu items.
• Turn on Widescreen tool window layout (where appropriate).
• Remove tabs completely (set Tab Placement to None) and instead rely on Ctrl+E to switch between recent files.
• Turn off Show browsers popup in the editor.
• Hide the navigation bar (View → Appearance → Navigation Bar).

IdeaVim customisations and settings

• Ensure that the .ideavimrc configuration file from my dotfiles is installed.

• On macOS, make IdeaVim a more pleasant experience by running defaults write com.jetbrains.PhpStorm ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false in the terminal.

Miscellaneous customisations and settings

• Check that PhpStorm is aware of all available PHP CLI interpreters in Languages & Frameworks → PHP in the Settings window.

• If using PhpStorm 2020.3 or later, if the option is available sync the IDE theme with the OS (on macOS change the preferred light theme to macOS Light). Otherwise, use the Darcula theme throughout.

• Set the editor font to Iosekva Term.

• Set default visual guides at 72 and 78 characters.

• Set the Project Opening’s Default directory.