The first step is to get your web server up and running on your computer. You then install PHP onto the computer. In order to get the web server to recognise PHP you have to update the configuration of the web server to link PHP into it. There are two ways that you can link PHP into a web server with CGI mode being the method that you use if you can't use the preferred way.
Exactly how you do it depends on which operating system you are running on the computer, which web server you have installed, and which version of PHP.
Most people these days download a combination of Apache, PHP, and mySQL that are all designed to run together and so will all install without needing to edit config files to link them together. They wont set up CGI mode though because they can configure the connection the proper way without needing that fallback approach.
Thank you for the assistance.
I must apologize however as I did not state enough detail in my problem.
I have hosting via Bravenet, and want to run a program
called "WebPad" The installation instructions
mention that PHP-cgi may be a more secure way to run things. How do I set this up via Bravenet itself?
They must have misunderstood the difference because CGI mode is the less secure of the two which is why the better method was developed and is now used by almost all hosts.
You have no control over how such things are configured on the server unless you pay for dedicated hosting where you have your own server that isn't shared.
