i want to use php but am not getting it

Anon

check out my site, mackstann.cjb.net

i want to use php, and have read through a few tutorials now, they all seem to be really bad. it might be me, i'm not sure. i can grasp C pretty well and its really fun to learn and play with. but php seems overly complex, all of the tutorials either are too short/simple, or they teach all this junk i dont care about (i understand variables, constants, etc, i dont need to re-learn them). updating my site gets more and more cumbersome as i add to it. i really need something like php. any links to some USEFUL guides or tutorials would be great.

basically all of the pages look the same, just different content. my idea is: have a main page, index.php, which reads 2 files, it reads the format/layout file, which contains the colors and tables and all that formatting stuff, and then it reads from a second file which has the content in it. it takes the layout and sticks the content in it and displays the final product. seems simple but it has proved to be just the opposite. 🙁

Anon

I recommend that you judt start coding. Yes, its seems complex. But its logic when you get the hang of it. Im a BASIC hobby coder.

Also, a great way to learn is to download some free scripts, then modify it to your needs.

Many great content managers at hotscripts.com and the great phpnuke.org and postnuke.com

I use postnuke for my site, its excellent.
take a look if you want to development4life.net

Anon

i'll check out those sites, thanks 🙂

but its not that i'm not understanding it, i am understanding it, its just that none of the tutorials tell me how to do what i want to do, they just tell me a bunch of worthless stuff that i either already understand, or dont need to know (yet).

Anon

Well, what you need to know. Is including files, parsing variables, getting input in forms.

Im working on my first PHP script, its a small project. But one got to start small and easy, even if you know it. do the simple things, so you get the syntax. Just when you think you know something, you findout that you dont know it.

Take me as an example, I spent the whole night sending a variable to an include file. 5 hours, only to find out that I was using an absolute path, instead of a relative.

Well, I guess you know this already 🙂

greg252

If you know what you want to do, go to php.net, look it up and implement.
You know C? PHP is not that different.
Go over basic structure and syntax and get started.