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In this video, we’ll convert the home page HTML file into a PHP file and start adding some PHP code.
Update to html
index.php unordered list for our random items should have a class of "items".
<ul class="items">
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Welcome back.
0:00
We're ready to start
building our media library.
0:01
We're going to start by
setting up a separate file for
0:04
the header that we can include
in all the pages of our library.
0:06
This will make our site easier to maintain
0:10
by giving us one place to
update shared elements,
0:13
like navigation links, instead of needing
to update each page individually.
0:16
Go ahead and launch the workspace
that is on this page or
0:20
download the project
files to work locally.
0:23
Most web servers, including the one in
Workspaces, are configured to display
0:26
a file named index.html or
index.php as the main file by default.
0:30
If you click the preview icon,
a new window opens.
0:37
In the index.html file is displayed.
0:40
Go back to your workspace and
open index.html.
0:44
You can see that the file references
an external style sheet here,
0:46
and down on the content, we're referencing
some external images for the suggestions.
0:51
This page also has a number of links.
0:58
Both here in the suggestions.
1:02
And up here in the navigation.
1:06
We haven't built these pages yet,
but we will.
1:08
Instead of actual links, you'll see
hash signs as placeholders for now,
1:11
and we'll update those links
as we build out the pages.
1:14
Before we start adding those new pages,
1:18
let's explore how PHP
files work on a server.
1:20
Let's start by changing the title tag
in the copyright date to use PHP.
1:23
We'll start with a simple echo command.
1:26
And we'll echo out the title as a string.
1:29
This isn't actually very useful.
1:38
But we'll be extending this in a later
video to use a variable instead of
1:40
a string.
1:44
Using a variable for the title will allow
us to use the same HTML on all the pages,
1:44
but still have individual titles for
each page.
1:49
Now let's go to the footer and
echo out the year.
1:53
We'll use the built in function
date with y for our year.
1:59
Let's save this page and
go back to the browser.
2:06
When I refresh this page,
2:09
we'll see something that you
might not have expected to see.
2:11
The PHP code here in the title tag,
and nothing here for the date.
2:14
Our Web server did not execute
the PHP code in this file.
2:19
Why not?
2:23
Because our file has
an extension of .html.
2:24
Our server will only execute
the PHP code in a PHP file.
2:28
If that file has an extension,
it identifies as PHP.
2:32
This extension is usually .php.
2:36
Let's go back to our workspaces and
rename the index file.
2:38
We'll rename this from
index.html to index.php.
2:43
Now when we preview this file in
the browser, the Web server recognizes
2:51
the extension, executes the PHP code and
displays the title and the year correctly.
2:55
So now we have the home
page working as a PHP file.
3:01
It's processing a little bit of code
to handle the title and the header,
3:04
and the date and the footer.
3:07
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