I've been doing the PHP thing for a little over a month now.
PHP because of the cross platform sever side technology. On the few websites I have supporting HTML, has been difficult and I like the ability for customers not to be able to access and manipulate code in PHP. It seems there is always a nephew or "johnny knows html" out there poking in the code. Then I have hours of work trying to clean up the messes.
I'd really like to get setup well for coding the server side applications, principally PHP based.
Currently, I' running W2K server, and I have recently DL a complete setup for creating an Apache, PHP,etc on my server for development. I implemented the package, but had a few problems, so I un-installed it for now. I got it from http://www.firepages.com.au/
I don't think my problem was the package, or I would have trashed it. I think I had some issues on my server I needed to deal with first. I've got IIS installed on the server, so I may have some compatibility issues between them.
I was thinking that a good WYSIWYG editor for creating webpages in PHP would be a good start. I've used Frontpage2002 and coded sites by removing the FP extensions and uploaded the HTML, so I'm kinda spoiled. To be honest, I don't feel like I'm cutting corners anymore if I use some type of code generation package. I used to be a purist, but honestly I'd rather finish projects faster, and let's face it...I still get to deal with the code. There just isn't a pure code generator that does the job for handling, ecommerce, forums, newsfeeds (in and out), chats, and all the other stuff site owners want on their sites.
I got a recommendation for Edit Plus 2, which I DL. I'm not too sure it is what I want. I'm looking for a tool that is WYSIWYG based similar to FP that builds page codes, and basically let's you build the pages on the fly. I don't expect the editor to build all the MySql relationships etc. I just would like to get the code clean for web pages, and then I can deal with the file issues separately. I'm being constantly quagmired in the code issues pertaining to the graphics and their placement on the webpages.
Example...I'd like to keep the header everywhere I go, keep sideblocks to the left on certain pages, remove all sideblocks on another page kinda stuff. These issues have had me bogged down, not the db stuff.
Going back and forth between the server with minor code code changes for creating working pages has been difficult. Principally, because when I change more than a few things at a time I get a blank screen and to have go back through all my code changes. A process of elimination in many cases, and often I just loused up by a pair of "" that are together, which I missed.
If you think I need to implement the Apache, PHP on my server and do all the debugging on my server...that's fine, and been suggested.
I guess what I'm asking. If you develop sites and code for a living you understand. I'm just trying to get a good setup and move on. I monitored and lurked around the forums looking for answers, but in the OpenSource environments I've learned there are a lot of inexperienced programmers. That's not bad, but you can get a lot of bad advise and do a lot of tail-chasing. I'm not put out with honest answers...I just don't think we're all in the same place.
Thanks for taking the time to read the long-winded posting
