is there such a thing as a php WYSIWYG editor? something similar to the likes of dreamweaver or frontpage?

i know very little when it comes to php. everythig i've read says if you know html you can learn php, well the only thing i have found that comes even close to what i know about html is the include function, which works similar to the ssi include virtual commad.

my biggest problem is what seems to be jibberish to me when i read the manuals and online tutorials. i get lost in them very easily and have no idea what they are talking about half the time. i feel really stupid that i have been studying this language for the last 2 months and have not been able to grasp the very basics of it.

i run a couple of websites for friends using html with ssi, but they want to move to free hosting, and the best ones i have been able to find do not allow ssi, but they do allow php, so for now, all i've done was convert all the file extension to php and changed the ssi functions into php, which got me really interested in this language, well the message boards did in the first place, smf.

i don't want to create something totally complicated like smf, but i would like to eventually design my websites in php and use sql or another database for them.

any help would do.

michael

    HTML is a text mark-up methodology. PHP is a computer programming language. The statement, "if you know html you can learn php," is, in my opinion, only true in that if you're smart enough to understand HTML you're probably also smart enough to learn PHP. However, learning HTML does nothing to teach you about how to do computer programming (other than the fact that most of the time you will be outputting HTML pages with your PHP code, so you want to understand the ins and outs of HTML markup and structure).

    You could probably do yourself a lot of good by taking a programming course or two (not necessarily PHP, any programming language will help) in order to learn basic programming concepts: variables, conditional logic, data structures, etc. That sort of knowledge is applicable to any programming language -- it's just the specific syntax of each language that you then need to learn.

    The PHP 101 tutorial at zend.com is a decent, not-too-intimidating introduction to PHP if you want to just dive right in. You might also want to check out the PHP books from O'Reilly for additional learning resources.

      As NogDog pointed out, there's a new level of thinking involved in programming languages such as PHP. Sure, HTML is technically code and you might be an HTML 'programmer', but there's basically no logic involved in HTML. Basically, in HTML you're telling the browser what to display. In PHP, you're telling the computer how to think, and it in turn generates the code for the browser to interpret.

      Writing a PHP application can require a considerable amount of math skills, logic, and ingenuity to take what you know and solve a problem.

        thanks for you help, i am currently checking into several community colleges to see about enrolling into a programming class. the zend php 101 guide helped a little, but i am still slightly confused by the whole thing.

        sincerely grateful,
        michael

          To properly learn PHP you will almost have to run a web server locally with something like Apache (free) with PHP (free) and possibly MySQL or another DBMS. This way you can write and see you programs as you are writing them and not having to upload files to the web then run them only to find bugs in them. You could make this easy on yourself by downloading XAMPP which will install all the above mentioned software and then some giving you a great platform to test your PHP and MySQL. You can download it HERE .

          Then to learn PHP there is a great online resource called Practical PHP Programming and it covers PHP through PHP5. It has easy to follow examples and after reading and possibly following the online book you should have a good grasp of PHP and save the link for reference. It is one of my bookmarks and I find it quite useful.

            thanks houdini, i already have all that installed, apached 2.2 for win32, php 5.2 and mysql 5.??? something. you all have been such a great help to me, thanks for all your replies.

            sincerely,
            michael

              a month later

              ASP. Matrix? thingy was a lightweight WYSIWYG ASP.NET editor that would handle the graphical layout and insert code snippets that could then be adjusted in the page. It has been suplanted by whatever the next bit of crap is but that may be a similar model to what both transhour and I have been looking for.

              What I, and perhaps transhour, may benefit from is an inexpensive detailed IDE so if the question can be restated;

              "What is a good feature rich, none to complex, inexpensive IDE for HTML, XHTML, CSS, php and the data source of choice (including straight XML files because I'm a freak that way)?"

              Been working in Textpad which had been customized over time but that is long in the tooth so newer suggestions would be appreciated.

              Thanks

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