Newb trying to make his first site

[Lysergic25]

Hello all, I am a new to the world of php and phpmyadmin. I have used mysql in school and have knowledge in html/css. But this php I have 50% knowledge of. I’ve been on youtube learning as much as i can and ordered some php books online but haven’t not arrived yet.

My question are,
1.) Whats the first thing i need to do to create a page to be previewed on my browser?

I know the page has to be run thru php before it can be seen in my browser. But after i finish scripting it and hit the preview button in Aptana Studio. It says  pick a way to run the file with the options of PHPScript or PHPserver. 

2. do i have to create a mysql database before i start any scripting?

3. How do i mesh a html page inside a PHP page.

   for example a html doc has the
   
   
   
   
   

   and you can write body of text this easy

   
   
   

So what would the format for php look like?
any help would be great.

[tanzeelniazi]

Well there are few points you need to consider when working with PHP.

1. Select a simple Editor, I would suggest using Notepad++ don’t go for Aptana in the early stage.
2. You need to have a Web-Server Installed on your computer in order to run the PHP scripts. Use WAMP Server if on windows machine, or use MAMP if on Mac.
3. You don’t need any databases to run PHP scripts unless you are making database connections.
4. Your file’s extension should be .php so that the web-server can process it accordingly. If you use .html as your file type the scripts will not work.
5. If you want to use php in your webpages the PHP code must be enclosed in PHP delimters i.e. <?php #Your code Here ?> even if it is a single line.
6. You can use PHP in anywhere in the HTML pages but be sure to use <?php ?> when using PHP and the file’s extensions must be .php.