I've been using HTML::Mason to do embedded web work a la PHP for a while now and it rocks -- you might want to check that out.

I've even written a tutorial, which will at least provide a simple picture, and there are links to more info (eg, the first edition of an O'Reilly book is now free on-line):

Intro to Embedded Perl Using Mason

The example demo in the tutorial is a small on-line site that uses an SQL database.

Amazon uses perl instead of php.

The only potential drawback is you need a server running apache mod_perl. But here's an example advantage: I have a web based chat that uses a separate, stand-alone server for some processing. The server is written in perl, so it and the embedded web page stuff can share the same module for functions like verification, etc. etc.

Then you can forget php and dedicate your mind to perl :)