Blocks control the layout of the pages, i.e. a "footer" block appears at the bottom of each page.
Each theme might have a different layout (and blocks available), and of course you can add your own custom blocks.
Using the WebUI you can modify the look of the site's layout pretty quickly:
Administer -> Blocks
Drag and drop the "Powered by Drupal" option from FOOTER into DISABLED.
ADVANCED
a custom php block (maybe dangerous)
admin/build/block
create a new block
in the body (plain text!) insert (copy paste?) your code
Input Format = PHP code
(Core Module -> Optional -> PHP Filter must be enabled)
Home -> Administer -> Site Configuration -> Input Format
admin/settings/filters
PHP code -> configure
(the super user System Administrator ALREADY has this filter, the above only allows you to add other users which is dangerous!)
IF HITFILE EXISTS: read current count
IF NOT, return error
<?php
$filename = "hit-counter.txt" ;
$file_pointer = fopen( $filename , 'a+' ); //r+ = read + write, start at beginning
if ( is_writable( $filename ))
{
$buffer = "test123\ntest456\ntest789";
fwrite( $file_pointer , $buffer );
}
fclose( $file_pointer );
<?php
$filename = "hit-counter.txt" ;
$file_pointer = fopen( $filename , 'r' ); //r = read, starts at beginning
if( $file_pointer == NULL ) { die( "error accessing file" ); }
fseek( $file_pointer , 0 );
$filecontents = file_get_contents( $filename );
$filecontents++; //the file only contains an integer
print $filecontents;
fclose( $file_pointer );
$file_pointer = fopen( $filename , 'w' ); //r = read, starts at beginning
if( $file_pointer == NULL ) { die( "error accessing file" ); }
if ( is_writable( $filename ) )
{ fseek( $file_pointer , 0 );
fwrite( $file_pointer , $filecontents );
}
fclose( $file_pointer );
?>