Creating a simple PHP forum

[riderz]

In this tutorial create 5 files
1. create_topic.php
2. add_topic.php
3. main_forum.php
4. view_topic.php
5. add_answer.php

Steps
1. Create table name "forum_question" and "forum_answer" in database "test".
2. Create file create_topic.php.
3. Create file add_topic. php.
4. Create file main_forum.php
5. Create file view_topic.php
6. Create file add_answer.php

Set up database

Table forum_question
CREATE TABLE `forum_question` (
`id` int(4) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`topic` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`detail` longtext NOT NULL,
`name` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`email` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`datetime` varchar(25) NOT NULL default '',
`view` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`reply` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) TYPE=MyISAM AUTO_INCREMENT=1 ;

Table forum_answer
CREATE TABLE `forum_answer` (
`question_id` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`a_id` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`a_name` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`a_email` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`a_answer` longtext NOT NULL,
`a_datetime` varchar(25) NOT NULL default '',
KEY `a_id` (`a_id`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

Create file create_topic.php

<table width="400" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr>
<form id="form1" name="form1" method="post" action="add_topic.php">
<td>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<tr>
<td colspan="3" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>Create New Topic</strong> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="14%"><strong>Topic</strong></td>
<td width="2%">:</td>
<td width="84%"><input name="topic" type="text" id="topic" size="50" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><strong>Detail</strong></td>
<td valign="top">:</td>
<td><textarea name="detail" cols="50" rows="3" id="detail"></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Name</strong></td>
<td>:</td>
<td><input name="name" type="text" id="name" size="50" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Email</strong></td>
<td>:</td>
<td><input name="email" type="text" id="email" size="50" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td><input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit" /> <input type="reset" name="Submit2" value="Reset" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</form>
</tr>
</table>

Create file add_topic.php

<?php
$host="localhost"; // Host name 
$username=""; // Mysql username 
$password=""; // Mysql password 
$db_name="test"; // Database name 
$tbl_name="forum_question"; // Table name 

// Connect to server and select database.
mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); 
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");

// get data that sent from form 
$topic=$_POST['topic'];
$detail=$_POST['detail'];
$name=$_POST['name'];
$email=$_POST['email'];

$datetime=date("d/m/y h:i:s"); //create date time

$sql="INSERT INTO $tbl_name(topic, detail, name, email, datetime)VALUES('$topic', '$detail', '$name', '$email', '$datetime')";
$result=mysql_query($sql);

if($result){
echo "Successful<BR>";
echo "<a href=main_forum.php>View your topic</a>";
}
else {
echo "ERROR";
}
mysql_close();
?>

Create file main_forum.php

<?php
$host="localhost"; // Host name 
$username=""; // Mysql username 
$password=""; // Mysql password 
$db_name="test"; // Database name 
$tbl_name="forum_question"; // Table name 

// Connect to server and select databse.
mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); 
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");

$sql="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name ORDER BY id DESC";
// OREDER BY id DESC is order result by descending 
$result=mysql_query($sql);
?>
<table width="90%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr>
<td width="6%" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>#</strong></td>
<td width="53%" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>Topic</strong></td>
<td width="15%" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>Views</strong></td>
<td width="13%" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>Replies</strong></td>
<td width="13%" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><strong>Date/Time</strong></td>
</tr>

<?php
while($rows=mysql_fetch_array($result)){ // Start looping table row 
?>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><? echo $rows['id']; ?></td>
<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><a href="view_topic.php?id=<? echo $rows['id']; ?>"><? echo $rows['topic']; ?></a><BR></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><? echo $rows['view']; ?></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><? echo $rows['reply']; ?></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><? echo $rows['datetime']; ?></td>
</tr>

<?php
// Exit looping and close connection 
}
mysql_close();
?>
<tr>
<td colspan="5" align="right" bgcolor="#E6E6E6"><a href="create_topic.php"><strong>Create New Topic</strong> </a></td>
</tr>
</table>

view_topic.php

<?php
$host="localhost"; // Host name 
$username=""; // Mysql username 
$password=""; // Mysql password 
$db_name="test"; // Database name 
$tbl_name="forum_question"; // Table name 

// Connect to server and select databse.
mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); 
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");

// get value of id that sent from address bar 
$id=$_GET['id'];

$sql="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name WHERE id='$id'";
$result=mysql_query($sql);

$rows=mysql_fetch_array($result);
?>
<table width="400" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr>
<td><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bordercolor="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong><? echo $rows['topic']; ?></strong></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['detail']; ?></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>By :</strong> <? echo $rows['name']; ?> <strong>Email : </strong><? echo $rows['email'];?></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>Date/time : </strong><? echo $rows['datetime']; ?></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
</table>
<BR>
<?php
$tbl_name2="forum_answer"; // Switch to table "forum_answer" 

$sql2="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name2 WHERE question_id='$id'";
$result2=mysql_query($sql2);

while($rows=mysql_fetch_array($result2)){
?>
<table width="400" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr>
<td><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>ID</strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1">:</td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['a_id']; ?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="18%" bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>Name</strong></td>
<td width="5%" bgcolor="#F8F7F1">:</td>
<td width="77%" bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['a_name']; ?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>Email</strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1">:</td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['a_email']; ?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>Answer</strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1">:</td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['a_answer']; ?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><strong>Date/Time</strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1">:</td>
<td bgcolor="#F8F7F1"><? echo $rows['a_datetime']; ?></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
</table><br>

<?
}

$sql3="SELECT view FROM $tbl_name WHERE id='$id'";
$result3=mysql_query($sql3);

$rows=mysql_fetch_array($result3);
$view=$rows['view'];

// if have no counter value set counter = 1
if(empty($view)){
$view=1;
$sql4="INSERT INTO $tbl_name(view) VALUES('$view') WHERE id='$id'";
$result4=mysql_query($sql4);
}

// count more value
$addview=$view+1;
$sql5="update $tbl_name set view='$addview' WHERE id='$id'";
$result5=mysql_query($sql5);

mysql_close();
?>
<BR>
<table width="400" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<tr>
<form name="form1" method="post" action="add_answer.php">
<td>
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<tr>
<td width="18%"><strong>Name</strong></td>
<td width="3%">:</td>
<td width="79%"><input name="a_name" type="text" id="a_name" size="45"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Email</strong></td>
<td>:</td>
<td><input name="a_email" type="text" id="a_email" size="45"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><strong>Answer</strong></td>
<td valign="top">:</td>
<td><textarea name="a_answer" cols="45" rows="3" id="a_answer"></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td><input name="id" type="hidden" value="<? echo $id; ?>"></td>
<td><input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit"> <input type="reset" name="Submit2" value="Reset"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</form>
</tr>
</table>

add_answer.php

<?php
$host="localhost"; // Host name 
$username=""; // Mysql username 
$password=""; // Mysql password 
$db_name="test"; // Database name 
$tbl_name="forum_answer"; // Table name 

// Connect to server and select databse.
mysql_connect("$host", "$username", "$password")or die("cannot connect"); 
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");

// Get value of id that sent from hidden field 
$id=$_POST['id'];

// Find highest answer number. 
$sql="SELECT MAX(a_id) AS Maxa_id FROM $tbl_name WHERE question_id='$id'";
$result=mysql_query($sql);
$rows=mysql_fetch_array($result);

// add + 1 to highest answer number and keep it in variable name "$Max_id". if there no answer yet set it = 1 
if ($rows) {
$Max_id = $rows['Maxa_id']+1;
}
else {
$Max_id = 1;
}

// get values that sent from form 
$a_name=$_POST['a_name'];
$a_email=$_POST['a_email'];
$a_answer=$_POST['a_answer']; 

$datetime=date("d/m/y H:i:s"); // create date and time 

// Insert answer 
$sql2="INSERT INTO $tbl_name(question_id, a_id, a_name, a_email, a_answer, a_datetime)VALUES('$id', '$Max_id', '$a_name', '$a_email', '$a_answer', '$datetime')";
$result2=mysql_query($sql2);

if($result2){
echo "Successful<BR>";
echo "<a href='view_topic.php?id=".$id."'>View your answer</a>";

// If added new answer, add value +1 in reply column 
$tbl_name2="forum_question";
$sql3="UPDATE $tbl_name2 SET reply='$Max_id' WHERE id='$id'";
$result3=mysql_query($sql3);

}
else {
echo "ERROR";
}

mysql_close();
?>

[bjayz]

bro im having error at the sql..

[marv]

ok i know this is a old post but never the less valuable to newbies like me
im having a problem with view_topic.php on the above script its giving me

( ! ) Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in C:\wamp\www\test\forum_test\view_topic.php on line 135

ive looked through the code and cant see to figure out whats wrong
could anybody help pls

thanks in advance

[marv]

its ok got to sort it out learned a lot thanks

[venko]

how to add user login, reg , logout system?

[kei_ki7]

marv, you need to add ?> at the end, because it is not close.
its like html tag, you need to close it.

how to add user login, reg , logout system?

You can based on lavalair script or also you can search it on google.

[marcuel]

i will rebirth this post, i re-transform my database, the old database gives me error.

CREATE TABLE `forum_question` (
`id` int(4) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`topic` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`detail` longtext NOT NULL,
`name` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`email` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`datetime` varchar(25) NOT NULL default '',
`view` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`reply` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
)  ;

CREATE TABLE `forum_answer` (
`question_id` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`a_id` int(4) NOT NULL default '0',
`a_name` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`a_email` varchar(65) NOT NULL default '',
`a_answer` longtext NOT NULL,
`a_datetime` varchar(25) NOT NULL default '',
KEY `a_id` (`a_id`)
) ;

but when i create new topic there's no topic in viewing it.

Added after 9 minutes:

error in add_answer.php same code in the old post

Notice: Undefined index: id in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_answer.php on line 13

Notice: Undefined index: a_name in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_answer.php on line 29

Notice: Undefined index: a_email in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_answer.php on line 30

Notice: Undefined index: a_answer in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_answer.php on line 31
Successful
View your answer

error in add_topic.php

Notice: Undefined index: topic in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_topic.php on line 13

Notice: Undefined index: detail in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_topic.php on line 14

Notice: Undefined index: name in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_topic.php on line 15

Notice: Undefined index: email in C:\xampp\htdocs\simple\add_topic.php on line 16
Successful
View your topic

and when i create topic and go back in main_forum.php there's no topic but it has blank rows.

see attachment my main_forum after i create topic.

[arnage]

Thats because of old type of coding, now those vars needs to be checked are isset().

[marcuel]

i'm not very good at php, can anyone tell me what should i do to the code that will view my post.

[arnage]

I use ternary here:

$id = isset($_GET['id']) ? $_GET['id'] : null; 

This is equivalent to:

if (isset($_GET['id'])) {

$id = $_GET['id'];

} else {

$id = null;

} 

This way: $id = $_GET['id']; forget, it is simply wrong.