Hey all,

I am new to this forum. From reading around, the site looks very informative.

I am currently writing a report on:
1) structure and features of an html website using templates and style sheets (how would this change using php and why would you
change?)
2) requirements of a good on line booking system for a conference.

I have done a lot of research lately on php, website structure, etc and php seems like an interesting and powerful scripting language.

I'm trying to document practical features that help make websites more user-friendly and overall better (i.e. expand/collapse menus with cookie memory of settings, using css for templates and to change printable web pages).

What are some of the best practical features possible with php?

Php is serverside language, and as such does not handle any of the frontend "flashyness" (is that even a word?) like expand/collapse menus. What PHP excels at is dynamic content, content that can be changed on-the-fly easily. A PHP program by itself will output black text on a white background. XHTML and CSS is what makes a PHP system useable.

That's true. I should be posing this question as "practical features possible with html and css" instead.

So correct me if I'm wrong but the reasons for using php instead of just html and css include:

-allows web pages to be "dynamic" and thus content can change on-the-fly
-can track individual user stats such as which pages were accessed and how many times
-give users different security levels and access levels --> content changing on the fly

Are there any other major reasons I left out?

cross post with http://www.webmaster-talk.com/html-f...sing-html.html