How setup directory to play with php while learning

#1

Hi there, I am new to Dreamhost, WordPress, PHP.

I would like to follow the w3schools PHP tutorial, but being able to test the sample code as I go.

How can I set things up so that I can create files with code in them, and then see how they will look in a browser having connected to my Dreamhost hosted domain? I have a WordPress site as a test site already at the root of this domain, and don’t want to interfere with that for now. I just want a directory where I can create, view, edit pages of code using a text editor and see how it all works.

I have a shared hosting account, and have pressed the ‘one-click’ WP install. I am assuming that the php and MySQL functionality will be available to me wherever I put the directory/files/pages.

I hope this is clear. Any help greatly appreciated.

Will

#2

Go to manage domains in the panel and add a sub-domain as fully hosted like test.yourdomain.com
Where it asks about what user to run the sub-domain on pick “Create new” and give it a name

Then you will have a completely separate empty sub-domain to test/learn with…

#3

Thank you. I’ve just done as you suggest. Apparently it will take a while to propogate, so I’ll try it out later. I’ll let you know if I have any more questions about how to set up the test environment. I’ve sorted out how to use Filezilla with Sublime Text 2.

#4

I love sublime text 2, I use it with winscp however.

New sub-domains propagate pretty fast, bet it’s available now. Changes do take longer, but the message is the same for both.

#5

Thank you for your comments. I have waited 24 hours and it is still giving me the following message:

Site Temporarily Unavailable
We apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact the webmaster/ tech support immediately to have them rectify this.

error id: “bad_httpd_conf”

I have read the wiki entry on this error but still don’t understand why it should be happening. Any help greatly appreciated.

Will

#6

Just click the edit button for your new sub-domain on the manage domains page in the panel. On the next page you don’t need to change any thing, just push the save button at the end of the first section. It appears something went wrong during the setup, that should fix it.

#7

Check for any errors in your log files /home/yourusername/logs

It may give you some information