How To Convert PHP To Html

Introduction

Welcome to this beginner’s guide on how to convert PHP to HTML. Whether you are a web developer or a business owner looking to make your website more SEO-friendly, understanding how to convert PHP code into HTML can be a valuable skill.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language commonly used for dynamic web development, whereas HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard markup language for creating the structure and presentation of web pages. By converting PHP to HTML, you can generate static HTML files that can be served faster and are more search engine-friendly.

This guide will take you through the step-by-step process of converting PHP code to HTML so that you can have a better understanding of the process. Whether you are working on an existing PHP project or starting from scratch, these steps will help you achieve your goal.

Before we dive into the process, it’s essential to note that PHP is executed on the server-side, while HTML is rendered on the client-side. Converting PHP to HTML involves running the PHP script, retrieving necessary data, and then embedding it into the HTML structure to generate a static HTML file that can be served to users.

By converting PHP to HTML, you can improve website performance, reduce server resource usage, and enhance SEO optimization. Additionally, static HTML files can be easily cached by web browsers and content delivery networks (CDNs), resulting in faster load times for your website visitors.

In the following steps, we’ll cover the process of converting PHP to HTML, with a focus on retrieving data from a database and embedding it into the HTML structure. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a grasp of how to convert PHP code into static HTML files successfully.

Step 1: Set up a basic PHP script

Before we can begin converting PHP to HTML, we need to set up a basic PHP script. This script will serve as the foundation for retrieving data and generating the HTML code.

To start, create a new PHP file and open it in your preferred code editor. Begin by declaring the opening PHP tag at the top of the file, like this:

<?php

Next, we can start writing our PHP code. For this example, let’s assume you want to retrieve a list of products from a database and display them on your website. To accomplish this, we’ll need to establish a connection to the database and execute a query to fetch the necessary data.

First, we need to define our database connection parameters. This includes the host, username, password, and database name. You can define these as variables for easy customization, like so:

$host = "localhost";
$username = "your_username";
$password = "your_password";
$database = "your_database";

Once we have our database connection parameters defined, we can establish a connection using the mysqli_connect() function. This function takes in the host, username, password, and database parameters as arguments and returns a connection object:

$connection = mysqli_connect($host, $username, $password, $database);

After establishing the connection, we can check if any errors occurred. If there is an error, you can use the mysqli_connect_error() function to retrieve the error message and handle it accordingly:

if (!$connection) {
die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}

Now that we have a successful database connection, we can proceed with executing our query. For example, let’s say we want to retrieve all the products from a table called “products”. We’ll use the mysqli_query() function to execute the query:

$query = "SELECT * FROM products";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

The $result variable will store the result of the query, which we can use to retrieve the data later on. We’ve now successfully set up a basic PHP script, connecting to the database and executing a query to fetch the necessary data for our HTML conversion.

In the next step, we’ll focus on creating an HTML structure to display the retrieved data in a user-friendly format.

Step 2: Retrieve data from a database

Now that we have established the database connection and executed the query, our next step is to retrieve the data from the database. This is an essential part of the PHP to HTML conversion process, as we need the data to populate our HTML structure.

To retrieve the data, we’ll make use of a loop, specifically a while loop, which will iterate through each row of the query result. Inside the loop, we can extract the data from each row and store it in variables for later use.

Here’s an example of how we can retrieve and store the data:

$data = array();

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $product_name = $row['product_name'];
    $price = $row['price'];
    $description = $row['description'];
    
    // Store the data in an array
    $data[] = array(
        'product_name' => $product_name,
        'price' => $price,
        'description' => $description
    );
}

In the above code, we create an empty array called $data to store the retrieved data. Inside the while loop, we use the mysqli_fetch_assoc() function to fetch each row of data as an associative array. We then extract the required fields (e.g., product name, price, description) from the row and store them in variables.

Finally, we store the extracted data in the $data array, using an associative array format for easy access later on. This way, we can access each product’s information, such as the name, price, and description.

Now that we have successfully retrieved the data from the database and stored it in the $data array, we are ready to move on to the next step: creating an HTML structure to showcase the data.

In the next step, we’ll focus on generating an HTML structure and dynamically inserting the retrieved data into it.

Step 3: Create an HTML structure

Having retrieved the necessary data, our next step in the PHP to HTML conversion process is to create an HTML structure that will serve as the foundation for displaying the retrieved data. This HTML structure will provide the necessary layout and formatting for the data to be presented in a user-friendly manner.

To create an HTML structure, we’ll need to consider the design and layout requirements of our project. This includes deciding on the overall structure of the page, such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and containers.

Let’s assume we want to display the list of products in a simple, structured layout. Here’s an example of how we can create an HTML structure:

<div class="product-list">
  <h3>Product List</h3>
  <ul>
    <?php foreach ($data as $product) : ?>
    <li>
      <h4><?php echo $product['product_name']; ?></h4>
      <p>Price: <?php echo $product['price']; ?></p>
      <p>Description: <?php echo $product['description']; ?></p>
    </li>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
  </ul>
</div>

In the above example, we have created a `