I need help getting my local testing server to work - PHP/MySQL

Question

Hello,
I am using DW CS5 and have installed XAMPP for my Server/PHP/DB package (which is the same as my live site).
I have gone thru every tuitorial and all information on this subject, and unfortunately I can't get the server set up correct. Other than my page not showing in a browser (or live view) when I try to view it, DW just says: "Dynamically-related files could not be resolved because the site definition is not correct for this server" when I have index.php open and try to find the files.
One major question is I am unsure of what folder to have as the root folder of the site, which has a public_htlm directory and www directory - or do I just use the main folder they are both located in as the root folder?
(Not to get too deep with this first question, but I also looked at the error log file in Apache c:\xampp\apache\logs\error.log and it is not finding the following:
[Tue Oct 09 14:26:38.573504 2012] [:error] [pid 3100:tid 1488] [client ::1:56261] script 'C:/xampp/htdocs/BusinessTube/index_e5pebna8e.php' not found or unable to stat]
I'm guessing that the file "index_e5pebna8e.php" is a cached version of the file generated by index.php - but I'm unsure why it is not being 'found'.)
Second question is about having to set the php.ini file to listen to port 88 as this computer also has IIS installed. I have done this, and it works with a local project directly from NetBeans (which I have to use for a PHP development class). How will this change my DW site definitions? I'm assuming that anywhere I would have localhost I will now need to have localhost:88 but once again I'm not sure.
I am eager to get this site working locally so I can start using the new PHP skills I'm learning - any help will be GREATLY appreciated.
Kirk

Answer 1

You're getting mixed up over the meaning of public_html.
Most hosting companies that offer PHP use the Apache web server, which has a single server root folder called htdocs. XAMPP also uses Apache, so c:/xampp/htdocs is the XAMPP server root, and its URL is http://localhost/.
Although Apache has only one server root, virtual hosts make it possible to run multiple websites on the same server. Each virtual host is located in a separate folder that acts as the site root. It's common for this folder to be called public_html. What bregent was describing was the location of the site root on your remote server. The name of the site root in your local testing setup can be whatever you decide to call it.
When learning to use PHP, most people use a subfolder of the Apache server root because it doesn't require further configuration. However, once you're working with real sites, it's normal to set up a virtual host for each one. I create all my virtual hosts in a folder called C:/vhosts. So for example, I might have one in C:/vhosts/site1. In the virtual hosts configuration file, I designate C:/vhosts/site1 as the root folder for a virtual host called site1, which can then be accessed as http://site1/.
The only reason I might have a folder called public_html is if I designated C:/vhosts/site1/public_html as the site root.
I hope that's clear. Once you understand the principle of virtual hosts, the concept of the site (or server) root becomes obvious, but it can be difficult to explain. I remember it took me a while before the concept sank in.