Using this script, a text file can be read and can be displayed on a php page but with lots of frills. This will make first and second line stand out as Title and author. It will also make links clickable and will convert any other special characters.
<?php
// set source file name and path
$source = "file-2b-read.txt";
// read raw text as array
$raw = file($source) or die("Cannot read file");
// retrieve first and second lines (title and author)
$slug = array_shift($raw);
$byline = array_shift($raw);
// join remaining data into string
$data = join('', $raw);
// replace special characters with HTML entities
// replace line breaks with <br />
$html = nl2br(htmlspecialchars($data));
// replace multiple spaces with single spaces
$html = preg_replace('/\s\s+/', ' ', $html);
// replace URLs with <a href...> elements
$html = preg_replace('/\s(\w+:\/\/)(\S+)/', ' <a href="\\1\\2" target="_blank">\\1\\2</a>', $html);
// start building output page
// add page header
$output =<<< HEADER
<html>
<head>
<style>
.slug {font-size: 15pt; font-weight: bold}
.byline { font-style: italic }
</style>
</head>
<body>
HEADER;
// add page content
$output .= "<div class='slug'>$slug</div>";
$output .= "<div class='byline'>By $byline</div><p />";
$output .= "<div>$html</div>";
// add page footer
$output .=<<< FOOTER
</body>
</html>
FOOTER;
// display in browser
echo $output;
// AND/OR
// write output to a new .html file
file_put_contents(basename($source, substr($source, strpos($source, '.'))) . ".html", $output) or die("Cannot write file");
?>
