HTML & Form Helpers. If you are following using Laravel 5.0, note that HTML & Form Helpers are deprecated.

Agreed, Shane :) I was actually surprised that they were deprecated though... I wonder if they will come back in a future release (just including by default Laravel Collective version for example).

For those looking for details on how to install the Laravel Collective package via composer referred to by the Laravel official documentation: http://laravelcollective.com/docs/5.0/html

Laravel 5.1 is going to be released on the 9th, but I think it still requires the additional step to get the helpers up and running.

While it isn't a whole lot of time to get it up and running, I found that I use those features on quite a few projects so a workaround I did was use Git locally to create a central hub for the laravel install, then made all the edits to composer.json and the config files, then when I need to start a new project I clone it to a new project directory.

I did not know that Laravel 5.1 was coming out so soon! Thanks for the heads up and for the local git tip. Looking forward to "improved" documentation announced by the Laravel team. More code examples will be nice for those of us starting out.

I suggest checking out Laracasts if you haven't already, it is an amazing resource for Laravel. I love Treehouse, but nothing can come close to the content on Laracasts for Laravel.

Not to spam this topic, but another option I have taken up was to use Windows batch commands to automate the creation of new projects.

1: Set up a central hub for the laravel versions to live in. Customize each for the things I use across majority of projects (ie. form helpers, asset configuration and so on). 2: Create the batch file:

@echo off
:MENU
set /p domainName=Enter Domain Name:%=%
set /p siteName=Enter Name:%=%
echo --------------------------------
echo SELECT A VERSION:
echo 1: Laravel 4.2
echo 2: Laravel 5
echo --------------------------------
set /p version=Select a Version:
IF %version%==1 GOTO LARAVEL42
IF %version%==2 GOTO LARAVEL5
:LARAVEL42
Xcopy D:\wamp\www\Sites\Laravel\4\laravel42 D:\wamp\www\Sites\%domainName%\%siteName% /q /s /e /y /i
EXIT
:LARAVEL5
Xcopy D:\wamp\www\Sites\Laravel\5\laravel5 D:\wamp\www\Sites\%domainName%\%siteName% /q /s /e /y /i
EXIT

3: Run the batch file. I created a WebDev toolbar that lives near my task panel on the bottom right. From there, I run the batch and answer the questions and have a version up and running in no time.

Anyways, hopefully this helps anyone coming across issues with the missing things they have enjoyed and don't want to reconfigure each project.