I'm still struggling to understand when or how to use a framework such as Zend or Yii. Here's some of the features I'm going to need on my next project and I don't understand frameworks well enough to know where the framework fits into the picture. I won't say exactly what the project is but think about something like Yelp or Merchant Circle, on a smaller scale of course - a directory project. It will contain a search box and links to all and/or popular categories. 1) Autosuggest in Search box. (I already know how to do this using jQuery) 2) Analyze the search terms entered into the search box to determine if they misspelled a word. Offer to correct the misspelling or automatically correct the word and show relevant results. 3) Offer items, links, or ads that are related to their search term. 4) Allow users to determine which fields are shown. 5) Allow users to sort the results however they choose. 6) Allow editing of records on a grid/list view. Post form without refreshing the page. Delete or Add records without going to a different page or reloading the current page.