tab / indent / spaces / modes

[richard@sunsetandlabrea.com (Richard Chamberlain)]

Hello,

After getting a bit sick of my current editor I decided I should
really learn emacs. I'm fairly ok with the basics of editing. However
I'm totally lost when it comes to configuration.

I'm using php-mode and I want to be able to switch off the indentation
mode, because what I want for formatting and what php-mode suggests is
different.

So I want the tab key to actually insert a tab, a tab to cover four
spaces but actually be a tab rather than spaces.

I've tried fiddling with C Tab Always Indent, C Insert Tab Function, C
Syntatic Indentation because I believe they are being used in
php-mode. But I can't quite get it.

Also is it possible to switch off wrapping so that I have to scroll
right if I want to see the rest of the line? Some of the html tends to
be in a long single line and I find it difficult to read like it is.

I've tried reading the archives but I get a bit lost in some of the
responses.

Can someone tell me which settings I need in terms that a complete
emacs newbie can get.

Many thanks,

Richard