Trying to learn xampp but having problems

[apox]

Recently decided to give a go at learning SQL and PHP. I don't really have programming experience but my father insist I keep busy this summer and learn something.
Anyways so I have been trying to follow you tube guides on installation and everything is fine until the part where they test out to see if Apache is actually running.
I go to services like in the videos and my Apache is listed there as well as the MySQL, I get no errors whatsoever. When they go to type localhost in the browser what I get is completely
different than what all the guides are displaying. They appear to have a menu on the left side that shows "security" along with a bunch of other menu options. When I follow
the same steps and type in localhost I am taken to http://localhost/dashboard/

Here the page is very different than all the guides I encountered and shows the following

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Welcome to XAMPP for Windows 5.6.11
You have successfully installed XAMPP on this system! Now you can start using Apache, MySQL, PHP and other components. You can find more info in the FAQs section or check the HOW-TO Guides for getting started with PHP applications.

Start the XAMPP Control Panel to check the server status.

Community
XAMPP has been around for more than 10 years – there is a huge community behind it. You can get involved by joining our Forums, adding yourself to the Mailing List, and liking us on Facebook, following our exploits on Twitter, or adding us to your Google+ circles.

Contribute to XAMPP translation at translate.apachefriends.org.
Can you help translate XAMPP for other community members? We need your help to translate XAMPP into different languages. We have set up a site, translate.apachefriends.org, where users can contribute translations.

Install applications on XAMPP using Bitnami
Apache Friends and Bitnami are cooperating to make dozens of open source applications available on XAMPP, for free. Bitnami-packaged applications include Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla! and dozens of others and can be deployed with one-click installers. Visit the Bitnami XAMPP page for details on the currently available apps.
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I am totally confused as to how I can access the localhost menu options like everyone else? The next step in the guide was going into security to set a password but I am not able to do that.
I use windows 7 and the xampp i downloaded is the latest from the official website. Also I get no errors when running both apache and mysql. I don't know exactly what I am doing wrong or how to get to the menu options.

[Nobbie]

I am totally confused as to how I can access the localhost menu options like everyone else? The next step in the guide was going into security to set a password but I am not able to do that.

That documentation is outdated, there is no more "security setup" etc., as this is not required and mostly users destroyed their installations.

Simply create your own HTML and/or PHP Files and put them into the htdocs folder of xampp (c:/xampp/htdocs). For examply put a file "test.html" (or test.php) into c:/xampp/htdocs. After then open your browser and enter http://localhost/test.html (or http://localhost/test.php) in the address bar and you will see your first test.

You may also create your own test folder under htdocs (for example c:/xampp/htdocs/mytest) and put your files there (for example an index.html), finally call that file via http://localhost/htdocs/mytest/index.html

This is how it works and now you may learn HTML and PHP and run your files on your own private webserver.

[apox]

That is great this worked perfect so thank you a bunch!

[Charles57]

I'm having the same issue on a Mac OS X ... there is no menu on the right hand side of the welcome page for the 5.6.11 version.
I'm very new to all this and have no idea how to create my own HTML and PHP files and put them into the htdocs folder of XAMPP - the Windows 7 solution offered here.

Any help will be appreciated.

[Nobbie]

I'm very new to all this and have no idea how to create my own HTML and PHP files and put them into the htdocs folder of XAMPP - the Windows 7 solution offered here.

There is no "WIndows 7 Solution" here.

Simply follow the advice and put your files into the "htdocs" folder (the placement of this folder is the only difference between Windows and OSX, but you *should* be able to find that htdocs folder) and thats all.

there is no menu on the right hand side of the welcome page for the 5.6.11 version.

There never was a "right hand" menu, there has been a (more or less useless) "left hand" menu. But this menu did not help you in any way, how to test your own files. This is, why i do not understand all these postings, if i give you back this stupid old menu - how do you know, how to procede with your own files??

[Charles57]

I'm having the same issue on a Mac OS X ... there is no menu on the left hand side of the welcome page for the 5.6.11 version.
I'm very new to all this and have no idea how to create my own HTML and PHP files and put them into the htdocs folder of XAMPP - the Windows 7 solution offered here.

Any help will be appreciated.

[Charles57]

Thanks Nobbie but I'm still stuck.
I've never created a MySQL database and the instructions I have for installing Joomla say to select Tools from the menu on the left-hand side of the Welcome page to find phpMyAdmin... I don't seem to have that stupid old menu.