Learn how to create an interactive Web site, allowing visitors to post and retrieve information provided by you or your site's visitors. In this six-week online course, you'll see how to create dynamic Web pages using the PHP programming language and the MySQL database server.

During the course, you'll walk through the development of a complete content management system Web application. You'll receive clear, step-by-step, instructions demonstrating how to create a complete Web site capable of dynamically displaying data from a MySQL database.

You'll discover how you can allow your site's visitors to add new information to an online database, search through posted data, and create meaningful printed reports. By the end of this course, you'll have plenty of useful code templates that will help you create your very own dynamic, Web-based, content management system.

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

A PHP and MySQL development environment. During the first lesson in the course, you will be walked through the process of installing WAMP5 software, which provides a full PHP and MySQL development environment. You can download WAMP5 for free from http://www.wampserver.com/en/. You will also need Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista (WAMP5 does not support either Windows 98 or Windows Me); Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader). Note: Macintosh users will not be able to use the WAMP5 software, and must provide their own PHP and MySQL development environment. Prior HTML coding experience is helpful, but not required.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Richard Blum.

“ Fantastic course, Rich -- many thanks! Great teaching approach for those of us without a coding background, very non-threatening & encouraging. ”

“ I can't say enough good things about this course and the instructor. As a 42+ year veteran of the 'computer wars' I've had a lot of training - this was quite possibly the best ever. My web site is up and running and I already have plans to leverage this new knowledge both at work and for a little project I've had in mind for a business I run out of my home. Heartiest congratulations to everyone for such a great offering! ”

“ I have taken other ed2go courses, and this one is one of the best. The material was well-prepared, the assignments were relevant and did good job of strengthening the information taught in the lessons. Richard is very interactive in the discussion area, responds quickly and completely to questions, and is willing to research and answer questions outside of direct scope of the lesson. Very good teaching style, and an excellent instructor. I am looking forward to the Intermediate course. ”

“ I've taken several online courses and I would rate this course one of the best. The instructor was very knowledgeable and responsive. Thanks. ”

“ I was impressed right away with how our instructor wrote personal replies to our introductions in the discussion area. The written materials were excellent. The course was a good all-around start to setting up an easily-updated web site. I appreciated getting information that is not always included in a course like this -- in particular versioning information and database backups. I would definitely take another class from Rich and from Ed2Go. I've already recommended another class to a friend. Thanks. ”

“ Richard is an excellent, patient instructor. He took time in the discussion area to completely answer questions no matter how many times information had to be repeated. I would definitely consider taking any course that he teaches. I will be watching for a PHP Level 2 course and hope it won't take too long for it to be available! ”

“ The instructor was helpful and courteous, going out of his way to answer questions about the material that may not have been relevant to the class itself. I would definitely recommend others take this instructor's courses. ”

“ This is one of the best courses I have taken from ed2go. The course plan and the material covered helped me gain a good understanding of the subject. The assignments were very helpful. The teacher was good at communicating and answering questions. ”

“ When I enrolled in this course, I'd just received a refund from another school for a PHP course that fell sharply below my expectations in examples and hands-on application. I could hardly believe this course offered so much, but I'm now convinced I got everything the course said I would and more. This course was excellent in text, instruction, and hands-on applications! ”