These days I’ve needed to do some tests with PHP. What I wanted to avoid was having to install a local web server and an IDE that conveniently supports this language, so I chose to use Azure Websites such as web server and Visual Studio Online as editor in the cloud.

On the current portal, once you’ve created your website (which supports PHP by default), you can access Visual Studio Online modifying in the CONFIGURE section an option called Edit in Visual Studio Online to ON.

After this step, you will see in the Quick glance section a new link: Edit in Visual Studio Online PREVIEW.

On the other hand, if you are already enjoying the new features of the new portal, you can also set this option but the configuration is slightly different: access your website through the Web Apps section and select All Settings, where you will see that there is a section called Extensions.

Among the options available is Visual Studio Online.

Once added just click on it and click on Browse, which will take you to the website code using Visual Studio Online.

Once there, you can use the editor with intellisense for PHP.

Happy coding!