there is something you MUST know that I'm positive that will affect any system you are using to program any web page:
If you work in Windows then file names ARE NOT case sensitive.
If you work in Linux, then filenames ARE case sensitive.
This gave me some days of labor when making my first page.
In my case I worked and developed the page in Windows and then uploaded it to a Linux server... :sigh:
PHP is really open, you put everything inside the PHP files, you don't need any other kind of file involved.
I would start using xampp or easyphp (if you work in Windows even I think they have their counterparts in Linux).
PS:
http://www.php.net/[
^] is a great resource. Plenty of examples are there...
Good luck. :thumbsup: