Can I edit and run index.php locally?

Greetings!
I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread.However, I'd be really grateful to those who can answer my questions.
First of all, let me say I'm a complete newbie to everything here. I decided to start off with a proxy site 'coz that sounded easy, so I recently bought a domain name, a proxy template and a space on one of the hosting sites that support proxy.Now my questions are,
1.I must admit I have no knowledge about html,php,css etc.Is there any way I can still make changes in the index.php(included in the proxy template) like the fonts,logo,background,icons etc. using a program with a user friendly interface?
2.How can I run the index.php locally, without having to upload it first?
3.I'm planning to start an online store that sells a particular product, but that project is still a few months away.Now if I'm gonna have to maintain this site all by myself, do I really need to learn PHP until then?
Waiting for enlightenment!
Regards

 

this won't be too much help but at least its a hint thats because i can't remember the name of the program that allows you to run PHP apache, mysql on you pc. its out there just use google....

 

you can create a virtual host on your PC using this software
http://www.wampserver.com/en/

Enjoy

 

if the hosting you are using is your own hosting, create FTP, then download all the files u wanted to edit to your PC and edit it. after that upload it back to the correct folder.

if u want to edit it without downloading the file to your pc, first you need to set the chmod to 777 (re-writeable), else you wont be getting any file edited without changing the files/folder permission. most script allowed your to edit the page via the programme itself, such as wordpress, you can edit the theme via WP but still you must change the files permission to 777chmod first.

 

or xampp
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

 

Yes Xampp or Wamp - both are top local server softwares

 

hey, please find and download WEBSERV . After instalation program will create a folder called: httpd you upload your site there and you can see prewiev using your IE or FF Just edit this site uisng your favorite program. Very easy is microsoft Front Page or more advanced Dreamweaver.

Hope this helps

 

Thank you all for the help! Any answers to my last question?

 

Ideally, yes.

But, there are many ppl like me who don't know PHP but still can set up a e-commerce store and maintain it, thanks to scripts like osCommerce and virtuemart.