So, I don\'t really have any errors in my current web page, but I want to be able to see an error when they pop up, instead of the HTTP 500 error page. I googled around a bi
You need to set the error_reporting value in a .htaccess file. Since there is a parse error, it never runs the error_reporting() function in your PHP code.
Try this in a .htaccess file (assuming you can use one):
php_flag display_errors 1
php_value error_reporting 30719
I think 30719 corresponds to E_ALL but I may be wrong.
Edit Update: http://php.net/manual/en/errorfunc.constants.php
int error_reporting ([ int $level ] )
---
32767 E_ALL (integer)
All errors and warnings, as supported, except of level E_STRICT prior to PHP 5.4.0. 32767 in PHP 5.4.x, 30719 in PHP 5.3.x, 6143 in PHP 5.2.x, 2047 previously