Question

I’m looking to get started on learning PHP. I was hoping I could get some information on how to test my .php files on my MacBook. I believe I have successfully enabled my “Apache Web Server”, as when I visit http://localhost/ in a web browser I see the message “It works!”. My question is what further steps do I need to take to enable my computer to do this? Also once configured where do I place my .php & .html files on my machine? I’ve read some articles about the /Sites/ folder but I believe it gives me a permission forbidden error.

Answer 1

I would highly recommend XAMPP. It’s what I’ve used on my Macbook for years now. The link for the OS X version is here:

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-macosx.html

There are great tutorials online through thenewboston here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6ZiPqsBvEQ

Basically once you have it installed, you’ll have the folders of your sites stored in htdocs/ folder of the application and once connected to the Apache server you would just go to http://localhost/my_site .