ok, so http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_install.asp says to get a server kinda thing and a myscq thing. What exactly is this? I have some web design experence but not alot like the basic HTML. I've recently gotten into PhP and I was wondering do I need these? If so please tell me what for and how I can install them because that site does not specify. Thanks in advance -Dave

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You don't need to install PHP or MySQL on trap17 hosting; they're preinstalled so you can just start using them. You can get to PHPMyAdmin from the cpanel (its a lil purple icon about halfway down the page I think), which is where you can set up your MySQL tables.

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Oh, but where would i put the codeing + what if i dont know any codeing for it where could i learn?

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http://www.tizag.com/ has some beginner tutorials that are easy enough to follow. The code itself you just put in the HTML file, except that you'd rename your file from something.html to something.php, so something like this:



could become




Hope that helps.

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Thanks for the tips let me check the site and i will PM you with any questions i hope you can help more if i need it
Thanks!

 

 

 

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Web design without HTML? That's an oxymoron, I think.

PHP is a script so, as long as your files are named something.php, the script will work (unless you wrote it wrong). If you don't know anything, learn PHP from http://www.php.net, and learn HTML from http://www.lissaexplains.com or http://www.w3schools.com. Best of luck

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Check out the tutorial section and look for one on a webserver or a testing server (i believe that is the tutorial). This will tell you how to setup your own web server that you can write and test php code on. It walks you through how to do it and what software you need. They use a package called XAMPP that has all the software in it and installs it all for you. THen you just to change a few settings to get it working.

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Yes, php is available on the trap17 Hosting packages, but due to the requirement of having to load the files up to the server, run the script on the trap17 server through your internet connection, make changes, re-upload the files and re-try the code to eliminate errors, etc, many (or most) php coders find it more convenient to install a server, php parser, and mysql database configuration on their local machine to write, test and debug the coding prior to uploading. It is a lot easier to manage locally.

XAMPP is an auto-installer that easily adds the necessary softwares onto your machine allowing you to simulate the Hosting service available at the trap17 on your desktop or laptop without clogging the Internet connection or the trap17 server. Believe me when I suggest that it is usually alot more convenient to have your own install locally.

XAMPP is pretty much a one click install and includes many of the same features available on the Trap17. Apache, php, mysql, phpadmin, perl, mysqladmin, etc are all included. And most of the fantastico modules are easily downloadable onto your machine for modification prior to installing at the trap, too, so I would reccomend that you perform the XAMPP install on your own machine simply because you will find it easier to manage your learning locally.

Also, download the php manual from php.net and the mysql documentation, too, onto your machine. They are excellent reference tools.

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ok i seem to get the basics, but what do i save it as? normally i just do Index.html for my main page sites, do i have to make this different? because it wont show the php

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In order for php files to be handled correctly, they should have a file extension of "php".

For example: filename.php

There are other ways of handling the parsing of files as php, but that is the simplest.
The other way is to make some changes to your .htaccess file to change the list of file extensions which get parsed as php. Sometimes html files are parsed that way, but it slows down your site because all html files get parsed if you do that...

Did you install XAMPP? If so, make sure to store the folders and files within the htdocs directory.

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