Newbie question: editing php files

[dbhatta]

Hi,

I've been around this forum and been learning a lot, thanks to all of you guys.

I am a starting webmaster, I learned html and I mostly use frontpage but can do code if I were so motivated.

I just purchased a website from someone else and the site is written in .php. The structure is different than what I'm used to although I did manage to learn a bit between yesterday and today.

My question is, Is there any editing software for php like frontpage for html? So I can modify it visually rather than thru code.

I'm not much of a programmer barely passed my C++ course few years ago as an undergrad.

Thanks a lot guys.

[txbakers]

Dreamweaver MX will write PhP.

But it might not recognize a lot of it if your new site was written by hand.

Best to learn PhP by hand - it's really not that difficult.

[robert adams]

php is text, just use a text editor, not MS word but a text editor. Notepad works but is not very good. Editpad is a good one, wordpad is a good one.

luck,
robert

[griz_fan]

Well, as others have mentioned, you do have a couple of options.
Option 1 is to purchase Dreamweaver MX. It is an outstanding program (IMHO), but there are a couple of downsides. First, it ain't cheap. Dreamweaver also has a bit of a learning curve. Finally, since you are dealing with pages coded by someone else, Dreamweaver's WYSIWIG interface may have some problems. But, Dreamweaver also has a top-notch hand-coding interface for situations such as this.
Option 2 would be to go the hand-coding route. I'm an advocate of this method for a couple of reasons. First, you can find several free programs for hand-coding HTML/PHP/Etc..., so your up-front costs are less. Also, I think it is a real benefit to code by hand because it forces you to learn at least the basics of HTML and PHP. This is particularly important when building and maintaining a dynamic website. Besides, PHP is relatively easy to pick up, especially if you've had at least some formal education in programming.
But rather than slogging through the process with a dumb text editor, look for a program with specific PHP functionality. Even though you'll still be coding by hand, such features as color coding your code, access to common PHP functions, etc... can really help. HTMLKit, PHP Coder, and the free version of Maguma studio are just a few examples of hand-coding programs that offer support for PHP. In addition, you will probably benefit from installing Apache/PHP/MySQL on your personal computer for testing and learning. Pay a visit to the HotScripts website, they have links and user reviews of several popular PHP coding programs and Apache/PHP/MySQL installation kits. Finally, don't forget the PHP forum here (http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum88/). Lots of good stuff there...