Reusing pieces of HTML code is a common way of making web sites (or web applications) more consistent, reliable, and more manageable. Even a small web site consisting of perhaps 20 or 30 web pages can benefit from reusing code for header and footer sections, for example. If the same header or footer is used across all the pages on the site, it makes sense to put the header and footer code in separate files, and then call those files to insert their contents where required.

PHP offers two statements that can be used for inserted the contents of one file inside another: include() and require(). These two statements are virtually identical, with the only real difference being that if require() fails, it gives a fatal error, whereas if include() fails it just gives a warning. For this reason I tend to use the include() statement as it just seems slightly more friendly.

So, to include the contents of a file called header.inc inside a web page called index.php, you would just need to insert the following line of code (wrapped in PHP opening and closing tags) inside index.php.

Include 'header.inc';

As PHP takes no notice of the extension used for the included file, you can use whatever extension you want to. Be careful though, if you put passwords inside an include file with a .inc extension, they will be visible. You can get around this by putting include files that contain sensitive information outside the document tree to prevent people from browsing to them.

In Part 2 we'll look at the use of functions when developing web sites and applications.

So you're considering building a website and you may be feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. While this can easily happen it is wise to whip out some note paper and write down exactly what you want to achieve and what steps you need to take in order to get there.

So the first thing you are going to need to do is put the foundation in place. This will require extensive research. Now contrary to popular opinion I start this process a little bit differently than what is generally advised.

Now while we all know that you need to find a hungry market doing this can be a little more difficult than explained in actual fact that is just like everything else when it comes to doing anything online.

Actuality can be quite different from theory. So what I do is visit the article directories. I punch in a keyword that I am interested in and see what articles come up relative to that. Then I check the articles out to see how many page views they have received over a given period of time.

If an article receives a lot of page views then I know that there are a number of people looking for information relative to this subject. I also know that if I write an article on this topic that it will receive a lot of page views and as a result get a lot of click throughs to my site which will help me get traffic quickly without having to worry about what Google and everyone else does.

Next I visit the forums to see what solutions are being discussed then I go back to the articles and check what the writers are promoting and see if it is a valid good product to help people achieve the goals they desire. If so then I make note of it. Now I feel a little more confident about building a site around this theme.

The next thing you have to consider is the domain. A keyword in the domain is helpful but not essential. Your next quest is hosting. You need a good host as this is your life line.

Finally you want to be able to build the site effectively so as to achieve good search engine rankings. Keyword research relative to your overall theme will help you to do this plus you need to structure the pages properly so that you site can be understood by the search engines.

Do not worry if you lack technical knowledge as there are site builders out there to help you overcome this challenge.

Select any of the following links to watch some free videos.

If you are considering building your own website and do not know anything about building or designing websites the fast way to learn is getting involved with a tutorial of some kind. Learn from somebody that already knows how things are done and just follow their examples as you start building your website. There are two way to go, you can find a e-book Dreamweaver course or a Video course where Dreamweaver is explained.

Both ways will work it all up to you to find the best way that will help you get started the fastest, I have included a few mistakes that you want to avoid when building your first website with dreamweaver.

1) Splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website, normally with a big image or something like this. These pages does not make much sense when building your site as you always have to keep in mind how does navigation works for my visitors and how does search engines like Google see my page. So if you can avoid it do not make a splash page as your index.htm page.

2) Banner advertisements

If you want to make money with your website, then AdSense will make the most sense for your users, banner ads takes up a lot of space and history tells us that people do no click on them. So don't waist your space on banner ads.

3) Clear navigation

Navigation on your website is very important for your customers but even more important for your search engine ranking. By making easy 1-click navigation is a must on all pages. If your customers do not know how to navigate your site people will not see what you want them to see. So forget flash and drop down menus

4) Clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

People will leave your site if they get loud audio from your site and they have to jump to turn down their speakers so avoid audio on your site.

So use the Dreamweaver tutorial to learn website building and saves alot of money by doing it yourself. Even if you don't know HTML or anything about building your own website you can learn it really fast by using an online tutorial.