I want to set it up locally so I can have all the files set up before I 'launch' it. That way if and when I decide to pay for hosting, I won't waste time figuring out what to do.

SO I decided to go with phpBB (and if there's another free msg board 'program' to get that's better tell me). I installed php on my machine, loaded the files, and opened the webpage (php embedded in an index file) -- I see the contents of the php file instead of the forum.

What's the matter?