As Im wanting to move from SEO to focus on web programming and development I've been teaching myself php for a while now, and im becoming rather decent at it. However, the field is rather flooded so I decided to start learning another language as well, and am looking at perl, python or ruby. However, if I were to go the ruby route, would it be better if I started off with regular ruby and then move on to RoR, or jump straight into RoR?
you will HAVE to start at Ruby man.. since RoR is a framework based on that language. (And really more complex)
IF you know php, you can look for symphony-project or use cakephp framework - good for development. IMHO, RoR is good for draft project development