you'll get a firm grasp on PHP. You'll learn how to install it, how to create a simple page using PHP, understand how IIS and PHP work together, and how to configure a site for use with PHP. Finally, you'll learn about the many features that Dreamweaver exposes for working with PHP as well as configuring Dreamweaver to work with PHP and MySQL together. Installing PHP Installing PHP is simply a matter of visiting the PHP website, downloading an installer, and running it. Configuring PHP to work in conjunction with Dreamweaver and MySQL is a bit more involved, but that's a process we'll get to later in the chapter. For now, let's walk through the process of installing PHP using the installer so that we can create and process a simple PHP page in the next section. To install PHP, follow these steps: 1. Open a browser and navigate to the site http://www.php.net.   2. On the site, click the Downloads link located near the top of the page in the main navigation bar. 3. On the Downloads page, click the PHP 5.0.4 installer link located in the Windows Binaries category. You are redirected to a site mirror to begin your download. NOTE As of this writing, PHP's current version is 5.0.4, with a release date of March 31, 2005. Don't worry if your version is different; as long as the major version is 5, everything should function smoothly. 4. Click any of the country-based links to begin your download. When the download completes, proceed to the next step. 5. Locate the php-5.0.4-installer.exe file and double-click it to begin the PHP installation. 6. When the Welcome screen appears, click Next. 7. Agree to the license agreement by clicking the I Agree button. 8. The next screen allows you to pick from either a standard or advanced installation. Choose the standard installation and click Next. 9. Choose the default folder in the root of your C:\ drive for PHP to install to. By default, PHP attempts to install to C:\PHP. This directory is as good as any, so click Next. 10. Choose the default SMTP virtual mail service that PHP should use when dynamically sending emails. Use Localhost as the mail server, but enter your own custom email address in the "From" text box 11. Choose the web server to which you'll be installing PHP. Unless you're using Windows Server 2003, choose the Microsoft IIS 4 or higher option. If you're specifically using Windows Server 2003, click the Microsoft IIS 6 or higher option. Click Next. 12. You'll be directed to click Next one last time to begin the installation procedure. Click Next to begin. When you've completed the installation, the installer alerts you that script mapping has been set. Essentially, the installer configures IIS so that files with the .php extension are processed using the php-cgi.exe executable located in the C:\PHP folder. Similar to the way asp.dll, asp_isapi.dll, and jrun.dll process their respective pages, php-cgi.exe is the executable used to process PHP pages. Aside from defining script mappings in IIS, the installer places necessary files in the C:\PHP folder. The installer also creates an important configuration file in the C:\Windows folder called php.ini. More on configuring this file in the next chapter. Creating a Simple PHP Page Now that you've had a formal introduction to PHP and you've learned how to install it, let's walk through the process of creating a simple PHP page. Not only will this process help familiarize you with the technology, you'll also get