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Requirements:
Dreamweaver MX or better
Apache2 Triad (Download Here)

Intro:
When you start into the beautiful world of PHP, you might notice one thing in Dreamweaver: When you hit F12, like you used to with your HTML pages, the PHP seems to be non-existent. Now you can do three things:

a) Upload it to a server and test it from there
Who wants to go to their FTP Manager, select the file, upload it and then enter the URL every time they make a little change to their site? Nobody!

b ) Start hating PHP and dump it in the pile of useless web languages
Common, PHP is far too beautiful too be dumped onto a pile in the corner.

c) Set up a server using Dreamweaver and Apache 2 Triad.

Point C sounds promising doesn�t it? You already have Dreamweaver, so no problem there, but Apache 2 Triad? What in the World is that? This is easily explained. Apache installs everything you need on your computer to run your own little local testing server. PHP, MySQL and even phpMyAdmin. And the best part: It�s Free! Just Download it, install with standard setting and your ready to go for this tutorial. You now have a little server running on your computer to test your PHP and MySQL until your fingers start to hurt.

The Tutorial:

I will be using an example page throughout this tutorial, you can download it here.

Open your page in Dreamweaver. If you are using the example page, it should look like this:

You can see the background image, and a little symbol in the middle row. This tells us that PHP is present. To view it you can either click on it and the code will appear in the properties manager, or you can go into the coding view (View > Code).

Now that we have our PHP site, we want to set up a server. From here on you should have Apache2 Triad installed on your system, as described in the introduction. If you need some more help installing Apache, click here. Outside of DW, open a window with your site folder displayed. Copy your WHOLE folder, and go to My Computer > C: > Apache2 > htdocs. Paste your folder into this directory. The htdocs folder is the one where all the site you want to test will be placed. Remember to put them into different folders, or you will generate a huge mishmash wink.gif. I named my folder �twodded�. Now go to Window>Server Behaviour. This will bring up a little toolbox in the right of Dreamweaver. As you do not have a site installed, it will look like this:


You want to click on the �Site� Link displayed. This will open up a window like this:


Write the name which best describes your site. I used �Twodded Example�. Now select the �Next >� Button
In the next window, you will have to select the �Use Server Technology� Button. PHP and MySQL go under Server Technology, so you want those enabled. From the drop-down menu, select the language you would like to use, in our case PHP/MySQL.


Now comes the part where you will have to do a bit of thinking, but only a little. The next box will ask you for the folder you would like to boot your site from. You can click the browse button to find it in the �Apache2� Directory. In my case, I ended up with the address �C:apache2htdocstwoddeddw_server_setup�. If you don�t know what folder to choose, here�s a tip: Choose the one where you�re �index� file is located. Here�s a Screenshot to clarify:


In the next box you have to write the address of the server. Since ours is local we use http://localhost in the beginning. Then you add the name of the folder you have stored your website in. I have to add another folder �/dw_server_setup� because I have subfolders in the �twodded� folder


Tip: If you don�t know if you spelt your address right, click on the �Test URL� button. It will tell you if an address like that exists

Almost Done, Only one more thing left to do. In the last window Select the "no" option, as you do not want to send the files you save to another server.


In the last window you will want to select the �No� option, as you will not be using a remote server. Click the �Next� Button and Voila, you are done. Now you can press F12 to test your site. Heres what mine displayed:



Hope this tutorial will save you some time and Energy