PHP can do anything that CGI can do, such as process form data and auto generate dynamic content, but PHP can do much more.

It can be used on all major operating systems and supports most web servers.

PHP is used by inserting PHP code inside your web page's HTML code. When page is called, your server automatically executes code. What's more, your visitors don't need any special plug-ins for code to run, as it will be displayed just like your HTML coding.

As PHP is a server-side scripting language, although your visitors will not need to install any new software, PHP must be set up on your server.

Following is a very simple script that will test your server to ensure PHP is installed. It is a standard PHP function called phpinfo, which instructs browser to print out information in regard to set up of your server.

To use script, simply copy following three lines of code and paste them into a plain text editor, such as Note Pad.

Note: To enable code to display properly, a period has been added following opening bracket. You'll need to remove this period prior to using code.

<.? phpinfo(); ?>

Save file as phpinfo.php and upload it to your server where you store your HTML files.

To run script, simply point your browser to script address. It should look something like this: http://www.yourdomain.com/phpinfo.php

If PHP is installed on your server, you will be presented with a page of information about PHP installed on your server.

If PHP isn't installed, you will be prompted to download file. In this case, you'll need to contact your web host and ask them to install it, as it is free to download and install.

You can learn more about PHP and download it at http://www.PHP.net.

If you'd like to try some PHP scripts on your site, here are some great scripts to get you started:

PhpAdsNew - Rotating Ads http://phpadsnew.com wo/

If you'd like to have a rotating ad system on your web site, this great script is an open-source ad server that provides a professional ad management and tracking system. Not only can you rotate banner ads, but you can also rotate buttons, pop-ups, text ads, DHTML banners and much more.

So, how do you make a professional site? That's simple, have no mistakes. Your site needs to have good content, design and be easy to use, but you also need to pay attention to details. That old saying explains it all, "The devil's in details."

You need to pay close attention to small things to make a professional site. Checking, and checking again, for simple errors.

What are these simple errors? Some of main ones include: * Misspellings, like: "to" instead of "too", or "their" instead of "there" or "they're" * Broken links * Broken graphics * Incorrect indents, paragraphs breaks and bulleted lists

I went to a website last week that offered health information. What I found were several pages of text that had no paragraph breaks, instead, each page was just one long block of text. It was very difficult to read text, and after seeing this small error I wasn't sure how accurate their information was.