Q:

Store PHP settings data as array or MySQL database?

I'm working on a Wordpress theme and it needs to have some settings. Until now I have them in the database but I also want them to be portable. For that reason I also saved the data as an array into a settings.php-file. Now I'm considering to don't use the database at all to avoid storing things twice.
Some questions about this

Are there any bad thing about storing data in an array within a included PHP-file, compared to MySQL database? (It's just settings, nothing needs to be sorted, no relations needed)
Which is fastest? Include a php-file with an array, or load data from the database?
Other thougts about this?

I give a check-vote to the most complete answer to my questions. Short answers might get a vote up.

A:

Don't create a file based storage for your Wordpress-Theme-Settings if you want it to be portable. Some sites might have the themes folder readonly.
For the initial setup it's ok to read your settings from almost everything filebased. Later on its best stored (and backuped) in the database.
If you store things in a file use the ini-style based files as PHP gives you an API for free. Things usually only tend to be better stored in an array or serialized if your options are not restricted.
Don't care about performance too much, simply use the wordpress options api as a best practice.

