Site Designer Guide
php mysql xampp local-server dynamic backend

PHP and MySQL with XAMPP

Site Designer works with static HTML by default, but it also supports PHP files. If your project needs server-side processing — a contact form, dynamic content from a database, or PHP templates — you can use XAMPP to run a local server on your computer and test PHP pages directly in Site Designer’s Live Preview.

What is XAMPP?

XAMPP is a free, open-source local server stack that runs on Windows and macOS. It includes:

  • Apache — the web server (handles HTTP requests)
  • MySQL / MariaDB — the database server
  • PHP — the scripting language for dynamic pages
  • phpMyAdmin — a web interface for managing your database

XAMPP lets you replicate a live web hosting environment on your own machine, with no internet connection required.

Setting up XAMPP

  1. Download and install XAMPP

    Go to apachefriends.org and download the installer for your OS. Run it and accept the defaults. XAMPP installs to C:\xampp\ on Windows and /Applications/XAMPP/ on macOS.

  2. Start Apache and MySQL

    Open the XAMPP Control Panel and click Start next to both Apache and MySQL. Both status indicators should turn green.

  3. Place your project in htdocs

    XAMPP serves files from its htdocs folder (C:\xampp\htdocs\ on Windows, /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/ on macOS). Create a subfolder for your project (e.g., htdocs/mysite/) and set it as your Site Designer export directory (see Configuring the export directory).

Using Live Preview with PHP

Site Designer’s Live Preview auto-detects .php files in your project. When a page has a .php extension:

  1. Live Preview opens the page through Apache’s local URL (http://localhost/mysite/page.php) rather than a file URL.
  2. Apache processes any PHP code in the file before sending it to the browser — exactly as a live server would.
  3. You see the rendered output, not the raw PHP source.

PHP for contact forms

A common use case is a contact form that emails the submitted data. The form HTML is built visually in Site Designer; the PHP processing logic is added via Page Settings → Head/Body Code or as a separate process.php page. Site Designer preserves any PHP tags it finds in your files and exports them exactly as-is.

MySQL for dynamic content

For projects that need a database — a portfolio with database-driven project listings, a blog, a simple CMS — you connect to MySQL from your PHP pages using PDO or mysqli. XAMPP’s phpMyAdmin (available at http://localhost/phpmyadmin) lets you create databases and tables without writing raw SQL.

Site Designer does not manage database connections itself — that logic lives in your PHP files. Site Designer’s role is to build the HTML/CSS structure and export it; the PHP and SQL are yours to write.

Exporting PHP projects

When you export a project that includes PHP pages, Site Designer exports .php files with all your PHP code intact. Upload these files to your PHP-capable web host via FTP and they will work the same way they did in your XAMPP local environment — provided your production database credentials are configured correctly.