Just another vote for PHP, against CGI.

CGI was the FIRST web development methodology (it's at this point that someone usually chimes in with a reference to some OTHER methodology which was actually first, but that no one ever used )

CGI uses environment variables to pass values. Remember those? Remember doing "PATH=c:\;c:\dos;" in your autoexec.bat files? That's an environment variable. CGI uses stdin and stdout to pass request and response streams. Don't know what those are? Good - that means you're not an old fart like me.

In other words, CGI is ancient and seriously confined in its abilities, including its ability to grow.

PHP is the current king of web development. It surpassed ASP, primarily because Microsoft dumped ASP in favor of ASP.NET. ASP.NET is the worst idea in web development ever. I know, I'm an expert ASP.NET is a web development language that pretends it isn't doing web development. Which makes doing web development, of course, a considerable challenge.

~Sold~ To php,

Ok Great information! Thank you so much!

I seek A few great straight forward books to begin to beter understand php and variables and proper code as well I do have the manual allready from php.

I understand the whole <? php .....?> I am not totally lost I have been reading alot online but I would love a few great referance books.

I prefer ones that look in on the topic of forums, Or at least would give me the power to figure it out on my own... Any titles?

I would consider contracting the work out, but I really don't belive I could afford the cost of that.

So here I go, I know what the end product is so it's just a matter of finding and building the strings that will get the job done. At least I have a base to start with!

I don't have any books to recommend, because I've never picked up a PHP book. There is SO much on the Internet, and since I need to be at the computer ready to code the examples anyway---it just works for me.

You will need some tools. Not sure what you have now, but let me recommend as an editor, PSPad. It is free, and feature rich, and works great for PHP. It also allows you to work with files directly off your ftp server so you don't have to use a seperate ftp client to put files on server after every little change. There are lots of great editors, for example, UltraEdit. But PSPad is free and excellent. I recommend you also download the PHP Help File for Windows--there are links to it on the PSPad website. If you follow the directions to install it for use in PSPad, you'll be able to hover over any PHP command, hit Alt-F1, and see the PHP documentation for the command including user comments! It's VERY handy for a person learning the statements.

You will still need a good ftp client for managing your web directories on the server and moving files back and forth. I can recommend the free, open-source FileZilla.

You'll need a PHP compatible webserver and a MySql database for phpBB. If you don't already have one, I operate ShinySolutions Webhosting.

Then to learn PHP, I say, download phpBB, follow the directions to install it, then start opening the php files in PSPad and read them. It is English after all, so you can read the code. With some study and referencing what the statements mean, it should start to make logical sense. For the beginner basics, Google for a "PHP Tutorial", and see what you find. You have to code along with the examples, or you won't learn it--in my opinion.

Enjoy the journey!