Ever wanted to have your own custom page for 404 (Bad Request) errors or redirect old web pages using htaccess? But dont have any experience with htaccess yet? This online tool is for you then - http://www.htaccesseditor.com/en.shtml. It takes your information in seven steps and outputs a nicely formatted htaccess file.
WAMP
Windows Apache MySQL PHP. There are a few WAMP installers out there including EasyPHP and WampServer (XAMPP for Mac). I prefer WampServer since it comes with an easy to use service manager as a tray icon. The service manager allows you to choose versions and manage all the extensions (modules) of apache, php, and mysql. This way, you don't even have to edit any configuration files manually. You cant get it any easier!
Download and install WampServer
Download WampServer from their website.
http://www.wampserver.com/en/download.php
WampServer can be downloaded from SourceForge too
http://sourceforge.net/projects/wampserver/
Now run the installer and follow the instructions. Its better if you do not install it in C: drive (where you have Windows installed).
You are now ready to run your php files
Now open your browser, and visit http://localhost. This is the host that runs in your local machine. Click on the WampServer tray icon, then click 'www directory'. Now if you place a file named 'test.php' in that directory, you can run the file from your browser using this link http://localhost/test.php.
For managing your MySQL databases using phpMyAdmin, visit http://localhost/phpmyadmin.
Hope that helps :)
I am going to introduce you how to set up a workspace where you will be able to manage your web projects.
Webpage Editor
When it comes to a software to edit your webpages, Dreamweaver is the first choice. The latest version CS3 has got a nice user friendly interface, and its really very easy to use. But you have to pay a few hundreds of bucks for that. If you want a free editor, then I would recommend you to use Notepad++. Its open source as well.
Photoshop
There is nothing as useful as Photoshop. It simply rules. Even though it will cost you a few hundreds, its worth buying it. The latest version Photoshop CS3 Extended even lets you export (slice) your layout in CSS which makes a designers life a lot easier.
Server
If you are a PHP/MySQL developer like me, then you have to install Apache, PHP, and MySQL in your computer for testing your web applications. Its also necessary to install phpMyAdmin for managing your mysql databases. (I will show you how to install them in my next post)