Learning PHP
If you plan on doing any serious web development, you will inevitably have to use some form of server-side scripting. PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is one of the options available. ASP.NET and JSP are two other widely used server-side scripting languages.
PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. - www.php.net
If you are just getting started with web development, you may be interested in setting up a content management system. A content management system is a piece of software that you install on your web server which you can then log into to make updates easily to your website. For a full website management system I would recommend the following systems:
Both of the above systems are available for free and are written in PHP. If you really want to learn PHP, I suggest installing either of the above systems and then customizing them to meet the needs of your website. After you’ve successfully modified some of the code, try creating your own modules. If that seems a little too over-whelming, you may prefer getting started with this introductory tutorial.
Another good place to start if you don’t need a large system like PHP-Nuke or Joomla is with either of the following two systems:
phpBB is forum system and Wordpress is a blogging system. Again, both are written in PHP, so customizing and editing them is a great way to learn PHP.
In order to use either Joomla, PHP-Nuke, phpBB or Wordpress, you will also need access to a MySQL database. Most web hosting companies will have MySQL databases available for you. You can also download and install PHP & MySQL on your computer for free to test locally.
Here are some more great tutorials which will help you get started:
April 13th, 2007 at 11:01 am
[...] Introducing phpBB April 13th, 2007 by Deceth phpBB is an extremely popular forum system written in PHP and available for free. There is no reason to ever pay for a forum system so long as phpBB is around, it is extremely powerful and offers all the same features as any commercial product. The latest version, called Olympus, has been available as a beta since June 2006 and supports things like sub-forums which were some of the lacking features. [...]
April 13th, 2007 at 11:08 am
[...] Joomla can be used to power all sorts of websites. I currently use it for example on my BattleCity Classic website. The great thing about Joomla is that it is extremely flexible. You can use it to manage a small website, or you can turn it into a complete community portal by installing modules that add extra functionality. Joomla is an open source project written in PHP, so you can easily find information on ways you can create your own customized modules for your own specific needs. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 10:16 am
[...] to Install Joomla Templates the Easy Way August 21st, 2007 by Deceth Joomla is a free content management system which many people use to easily run their own website with [...]