I will be using PHP.
I want to build a basic dating site so I think I need to learn how module by module or piece by piece until I have it completed. What I want to start with is the webcam part.
How would I go about streaming a webcam to a website?
How would I fetch a few screenshots of the webcam and post it on the site (storing it into a db)?
you can use AJAX to refresh images (or use metarefresh) in some intervals...
You should use something like Flash or Flex to display the video.
The simple answer is that you cannot do this directly in PHP you will have to use a client-side technology like Flash, Flex, Silverlight(?) or even AJAX (super low tech), to do this kind of thing, as PHP only operates on the server-side and there for after page load is unable to change the content of the page.
If I were to do something like this (again) I would use Flash, from my experience it is best suited for this type of media, with the best user-experience and the best browser/os cross-platform availability.