I haven't used PHP for a number of years, but I have to disagree on the documentation. I found PHP's docs to be heads and shoulders better than other languages. It has expressive, sane examples, and allows comments that may help others with repeated questions regarding certain functionality.
Compare PHP with say, Python. Tell me which one you would rather refer to.
I'm with you on most of these, but disagree on the documentation. The main PHP code is quite well-documented, even from way back, which contributed to its popularity.
The docs are great--its the API that is badly designed in my opinion. It's not very intuitive or memorable. Take a look at string functions[1] for example. `count_chars` vs `strlen` and the list goes on.
Supposedly it's better now. I'm skeptical.