Have you ever looked at a web site that displays dynamically-updated information, like items for sale, banking details, or dates and times, and thought "Wow! Wish I could do that." Well, It's easier than you'd think — PHP is the world's most popular server-side scripting for creating dynamic web sites, due to being free, secure, and well-supported. And this book will show you how to use it via a series of easy to follow visual tutorials. We don 't expect you to trawl through reams of code to gain an understanding!

PHP expert David Powers takes you through how to set up your PHP development environment, the basics of PHP Scripting, and how to add a database to your site to store data. With the basic foundations all set up, he shows you how to achieve all manner of essential web site functions with PHP, including uploading files, sending e-mail, creating image thumbnails, creating login pages, adding data to a database and displaying it on your web site, and much more.

Throughout the book, an emphasis is put on both good web site design (styling using CSS) and security (how to stop malicious users hacking your site.)