See bottom of article for an update
If you read my most recent post you'll see that I mentioned I installed an
Apache server and acquired some PHP documentation so I could learn PHP. So far
I've configured the server and installed PHP and have created my first *Basic*
script. It's nothing impressive but I have to start somewhere.
Anyway, my ISP gives me a webstie with my service (as most do) but it's doesn't
support any scripting (Which I think is stupid since I pay $40 for broadband
service)...or anything more advanced than basic HTML for that matter. That really
sucks since that means I have to test my PHP scripting locally, which is why
I installed the Apache server.
I've so lost track of where I was going with this.
Apache, that's right. While I'm glad I was able to figure out how to install
and configure it properly, Apache isn't what I wanted in the end. I want a way
for my friends to be able to see my progress and give me input on what I create.
After all, what's the point of creating something if you can't share it with
someone. The problem is that since I can't upload the content to my website
and people can't access my computer over the net using my IP directly, I have
no way of sharing it with anyone.
As for my IP issues:
I gave a couple friends of mine the IP apache is broadcasting (Is that the right
term?) on but they couldn't access the page. Their browsers told them "Page
could not be displayed." I configured my firewall to allow the traffic on the
port I configured Apache to use but it didn't make a difference. I also tried
turning my firewall off completely but that didn't help either.
So either I need a free hosting plan that supports PHP or I need to figure out
why my friends can't access my page using my IP. I'd prefer the hosting plan
since I'm not too comfortable spreading my IP around. I'd be more than willing
to pay for a website that supports PHP in the future when I have something worthwhile
to publish. I just don't want to shell out money for it since it'd only be used
minimally for learning purposes.
Anyone have any ideas on either a hosting plan or my IP problem? I'd appreciate
any help you could provide.
~Melchiah
Update:
I have recently found a great hosting company that offers what I want for
a price I'm willing to pay, so I'll use that for my PHP experiments along with
my local testing server. However, I'd still like to know why people couldn't
access my computer using my IP...?
~Melchiah