what is best and what is the difference???????? i have been doing a website and have been told i should have done it php but whats wrong with html..

Well, HTML isn't really a programming language. It just some coding for your website layout etc. and most importantly, it's static.

Whereas, PHP is dynamic and can make a lot of differences.

A simple example would be, in HTML you can't make the website for people to login and PHP can. Because HTML has no place like database to store your information.

HTML is a language to display web page content. PHP is a scripting language that one can be used to dynamically generate web pages, but can also do many other things like connect to databases. There is nothing wrong with using html for simple pages.


Sure you can. All one needs is something on the server to handle processing the login. That doesn't necessarily need to have anything to do with PHP.

Oh.. my bad.

so useing html is fine then does anyone know of any good software to build wicked sites with at the moment i am using dreamweaver mx but really i am a amatuer and i am building a site for my farther inlaw am would like to do a good site, but also he wants to start up a e-commerce so is there any point in doing this site because i was told that i would have to redo the layout the site is on uk2.net (server)?????? any ideas

The only real way to build 'wicked' websites is to actually learn html, css, and javascript. Dreamweaver can accomplish this, but not if you don't know what it is you are trying to do. Doing an e-commerce site is beyond just simple html. E-commerce websites require server-side technology to write to databases, process orders, and generate dynamic web pages based on desired content. That will require PHP,C++, Java, Perl, or some other language. That is hard core programming, and not something you are going to throw together in a weekend (or 6 months worth of weekends for that matter). You might be able to find some open source software that will accomplish what you want, but you will then require a server that is capable of running the application.
Something like this:
http://www.phpshop.org/

Creating an e-commerce website from scratch requires knowledge of databases, security, data structures, etc. People make a good living creating application like this, and it requires a bit of training and/or schooling. You may want to consider finding an open source package that will do it for you. Find one that has good support so that you have somewhere to turn to when you need help with installation or configuration.

In addition to what groovicus has said, there is a open source package called osCommerce. You will be able to find more information is the website. However, this requires knowledge in PHP/mySQL else it will be difficult for you to maintain the site.

does anyone know about the spry menu in adobe dreamweaver i have created a menu with a transparent background but there is a box in the background which i cannot get rid of any ideas? also when i move the mouse over one of the boxes in the menu it opens a submenu but the box behind it is saying false and i carnt get rid of that either.............