Ubuntu adding command

Question

I have php installed along with XAMPP. I can run php cli by typing /opt/lampp/bin/php -arguments-here, but I understand there must be a way to register a proper short command php -arguments-here ?

Edit: I edited .bash_profile as per answer below, but I still keep getting the error:

The program 'php' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing: sudo apt-get install php5-cli

Answer 1

Put /opt/lampp/bin in your path.

Add the following lines to your .bash_profile (assuming you have a bash shell):

PATH=/opt/lampp/bin:$PATH
export PATH

Answer 2

After doing what BetaRide suggested, you can make the change happen in your current shell session by executing:

. ~/.bash_profile

Now, the environment variable $PATH has the value you just assigned to it.