How can I implement server side code and a database on my site?

Before you embark on this it is very important that you have complete control over the server that you're using. I would also highly recommend testing the new site on another server before implementing it fully.   I use PHP, which is probably the easiest but not the best language to use. To change all your files into PHP files, just make them .php instead of .html. PHP only executes code between the <?php ?> tags. it will output plain HTML to the user at the moment. If you wish to use PHP in your files, you simply use the php tags around PHP stuff, and it will execute it and insert the output where ever the php tags are in the html document.   It is a very good idea to use MySQL or PostgreSQL. SQLite isn't as good at security, but is faster. The database files are stored separate to the document root on the server. You don't need to look at these files at all. Having something like PHPMyAdmin is useful to administer the database.   If you want to experiment, I recommend using EasyPHP if you've got Windows. It come with copies of Apache (the server), PHP (for using PHP), MySQL (for database stuff) and PHPMyAdmin (for running the database). It is ready to go once you've downloaded it.   http://www.php.net is a good site for looking up PHP problems, and you'll find something on the internet about SQL and MySQL.

I guess what's not clear is what u want to do with the server side code. And are you staying away from platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. My journey to dynamic websites went like this: - static website, good but dated. - changed all files to php. used includes to get headers, sidebars, footer, etc. Added some dynamic content. - moved everything to WordPress. Dont worry about the code side of the site too much. Focus on the content and dynamic functions. Now I am extremely happy and have great dynamic content and functions. :) Aloha Arlen http://Hawaiiwp.com