SMTP, PHP.ini setup for simple outgoing mail walkthrough

i have been having this problem for weeks now, i cant seem to understand and do correctly configuring of my php.ini and an smtp server to send email from the website i am developing.

I really need a walkthrough that also includes suggestions on what smtp server software to download so that it includes examples on how to integrate it into php.

I really hope someone can help me with this. I need to finish this website for my coll开发者_StackOverflow社区ege dissertation and i have no idea on how to use smtp

this is the first time i am using this feature so i am very new to this stuff

Have you tried ini_set()? You don't need to install any server software for this, most of the web server supports SMTP, just need to enable it.

<?php
// Using the ini_set() 
ini_set("SMTP", "smtp_server");
ini_set("sendmail_from", "email@example.com");
//ini_set("smtp_port", "20"); // for example