Frequently Asked Questions: php questions
Below are all the frequently asked questions added to the site. Please read through them before asking a question in the forums!
Latest
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1
What are headers and footers, and how to I make them?
Lets say, you’ve got a big site with many pages. On every page you have the html, head, title and title tags, header image and the sidebar, and they all look identical on all the pages. When you change your layout, you have to change all the html pages to the new layouts html, with different images, colors and style.
With header and footer pages and php enabled on your server, you’ll only have to change the header and footer files to the new layout, and all the other pages will change automatically!
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2
When I upload a PHP file to my free host, it doesn’t show up or wants me to save it! Why doesn’t it work?
Unfortunately, most free hosts do NOT support PHP. Typically, the most you can get out of them are HTML files. If you are hosted for free by a friend’s domain, they might support PHP - e-mail them to find out.
Below is a list of commonly-used free web hosts that DO NOT support PHP:
- Geocities
- Angelfire
- Tripod (although some accounts may offer limited PHP support)
- Freewebs
- Brinkster
If you are currently on one of these free hosts and REALLY want to use a PHP script, you might ask around to see where you could find free hosting on someone’s domain.
Get-what-you-give.com is a good place to find a host.
If you’re still in need, try looking at the Webhosting and Domains forum (please note that offers here may not be free).
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3
When I try to preview my PHP page in my browser, it tries to save the file instead of displaying it. What could be causing this?
This may be happening if you are trying to preview the page on your own computer, without first uploading it to the server. This often happens when people press F12 to preview from programs like Dreamweaver. Most home computers don’t know how to read PHP, so they do the only thing they can: save the file. Try uploading to your web host, and viewing it there.
If this still happens even after the file is uploaded (make sure your browser’s address bar says ‘http://’ instead of ‘file://’), your host might not support PHP. Contact your host to see if they do, and if not, what kind of scripts they do support.
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4
What is this PHP thing that everyone talks about?
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely used programming language that is used for web development and for creating dynamic HTML pages. It is similar to ASP and ColdFusion, and the most used suffix for php pages are ‘.php’ and ‘.phtml’. For more information, please visit PHP.net.
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5
Skinning using NL-ConvertToPHP?
Can I skin my site if I use NL-ConvertToPHP?
Yes. Simply add this to the top of index.php:
<?php include '/home/site/public_html/cookiecheck.php'; ?>
And then change:
include 'header.inc';
To:
include $headervar . $skin . $extension;
And
include 'footer.inc';
To:
include $footervar . $skin . $extension;
May 21, 2004 | 
By Sasha | 
Filed under FAQ, NL-ConvertToPHP, PHP, Scripts
