I'm new to PHP and I'm not sure why this doesn't work. I have done everything this page said http://php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php (example #1 Using global)... Why is it not working? it's frustrating.

This is a first attempt on wordpress plugins. First file contains:

function pp_sa_menu(){
        add_menu_page('Shadow Accounts Search', 'Shadow Accounts', 'manage_options', 'shadow_accounts', 'pp_sa_search');
}
add_action('admin_menu','pp_sa_menu');

function pp_sa_search(){
        include('shadow-accounts/admin/sa-admin.php');
}

then the sa-admin.php file is where the problem happens

<?php
$sandbox = true;

$phost = 'localhost';
$pus = 'user';
$ppas = 'pass';

$pus = 'Hello World';

function testFunc(){
    global $phost;
    return $phost;
}

echo testFunc(); //empty

function getForumAccounts(){
    global $pus;
    echo $pus; // empty
    echo 'test'; // shows 'test'
    echo $ppas; // empty

}
getForumAccounts();

?>

Not sure if this will work any different but:

$phost = 'localhost';

function getForumAccounts(){
  global $phost;
  return $phost;
}

echo getForumAccounts();

Function should be returning something. In this case its the variable and then you can echo that out or use the function in another way.