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Combine the power of PHP and Dreamweaver 8

Book cover Dreamweaver 8 takes a lot of the hard work out of integrating a database into your websites, but it can’t do everything. So instead of just giving you a series of instructions to click this and click that, this book helps you understand what’s going on in the background. As a result, you’re more likely to remember and to get it right. There’s no attempt to turn you into a code guru, but you’ll come away with sufficient knowledge of basic PHP to have the confidence to dive into the Dreamweaver code and tweak it to your own requirements. The emphasis is exclusively on PHP, so you don’t waste any time on information that’s not relevant to what you’re doing.

Most books on PHP concentrate on code, and throw all design considerations out of the window. This one is different. It makes use of Dreamweaver 8’s vastly improved CSS rendering, and shows you how to build a site that’s smart in both senses of the word. It looks good, and is intelligent, too. You’ll learn how to change the entire look of the site, using PHP to serve up different stylesheets each month. You’ll also build a contact form protected against email injection attacks. All of Dreamweaver’s PHP server behaviors are put through their paces; and you even make some custom server behaviors that will come in useful in any site you create.

Two chapters take you through the setup process with step-by-step instructions for both Windows and Mac OS X, helping you make the right choices: Apache or IIS? Remote or local testing? There are even instructions on how to set up virtual hosts on your own computer. And in the unlikely event that things go wrong, there's plenty of troubleshooting advice, too.

Don't just take my word for it, see what readers have to say about Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8 on Amazon.com.