Ima just be blunt here. I hope you're not angered by it, but not knowing PHP means you probably have no background in structured programming languages. Unfortunately, it's also not something you can learn quickly. I've been programming in PHP for 3+ years and in C for 6 before that and I still consider myself in the intermediate range.
My point it you either need to post the code and maybe we can gander through it and help you or you'll need find someone that knows PHP to help you out.
All web designers hate the internet. If I spend all day making/updating/looking at websites, why the hell would I want to deal with it outside of work?