Making website by PHP , HTML and MYSQL

The list of all PHP and Mysql posts

2011-04-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

How to make a search page

2011-04-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Search boxes are importent part of a forum . User wants to find a topic very fast , he doesn't want to see all of the pages to find his favorite thing. The picture below shows a search box :

Put the following codes in "search.php" , they will show a form for search on the screen.

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // we check that if user has loged in or not

include "funcs.php"; // the functions look like : connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we include that file wherever it is required.

?>

<?php
include "auth.inc";
?>
<a href="logout.php">log out</a>
 

// the following html codes show a menu-bar on the page . they have been created by Frontpage . You can omit them.

<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title> search </title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#99FF66" >
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1055" height="625">

<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="148">
 
 
 
 
<a href="index.php"><img src="_derived/index.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="index.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="about.php"><img src="_derived/about.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="about.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="search.php"><img src="_derived/search.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="search.php" align="middle"></a> 
 
  search </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" width="300">
 

 
 main titles 
<?php

// the following is just a list of forums

echo"
 
 
1.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=satire\">satire</a>
 
 
2.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=drama\">drama</a>
 
 
3.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=tragic\">tragic</a>
 
 
4.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=joke\">joke</a>
 
 
5.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=others\">others</a>
";
?>
  </td>
 <td valign="top" width="747">
 
 
 
 
 
<?php
if($_GET['q'] == "" or !isset($_GET['q']))
{

// This condition checks that if the search box is empty or not . If no search has begun the search box and the search button are shown , unless the results of search are shown.

?>
<form method="get" action="search.php">

// the search form is sent to "search.php" again.


<input type="text" name="q" size="20">
<input type="submit" value="Search" name="searchBtn">

</form>
<?php
}else{

// if the search box is not empty , we do a search over the database by the entered word.

// some prosses over the entered word

$key = $_GET['q'];
$key = htmlspecialchars($key); // change html characters in to regular text , this is an anti-hack process

$key = trim($key); // trim omits "space" characters from two sides of a text

// omit the dangerous characters from the entery .

$key = str_replace("'", "", $key);
$key = str_replace("\\", "", $key);

if(ereg("[^a-zA-z0-9\ ]",$key)){

// here we check the word format that it contains only numbers and letters.

echo "incorrect format for search phrase, just use letters , numbers and space";
echo " <a href = \"search.php\" >Search again</a> ";
exit;
}
connect();

// search the posts titles for the entered word.
// Notice to this query , '%" means whatever.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM topics WHERE title LIKE '%".$key ."%' ";
$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);

$TotalResults = mysql_num_rows($SearchResult);
if($TotalResults == 0){

// if there's no result show the message "no match"

echo "no matches";
echo " <a href = \"search.php\" >Search again</a> ";
exit;
}
for($i = $TotalResults - 1; $i != -1; $i-- )
{

// print the search results on the screen .

$TextTitle = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3);
$Textauthor = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0);
$Textlink = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 5);

echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>";
echo " ";
}
}
?>
</td>
 <td valign="top" height="427" width="147">
 
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="50">
 
 
 

 <?php

 echo get_pages_html(); // you can add page numbering to search results but I haven't done it here , this line is just a draft and isn't necessarry

 ?>
  </td>
</tr>

</table>
</body>
</html>

 

<html dir="ltr">

There's enough comments between codes , so I don't explain more.
You can read the following related posts to understand codes here better:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-show-certain-post-by-user-demand.html

How to show a certain post by user demand

2011-04-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Before reading this post , To understand this post it's better to read:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-show-posts-inside-of-forum.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-add-newtopic-ability-to-forum.html

We want to direct user to the post that he clicks on its title. First of all , we make a hyperlink to "showtopic.php" (the page displays the requested post).

The hyperlink have the following format :

code:

echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>";

The hyperlink that is shown by this code is look like:

Now , we should add codes for "showtopic.php" page . This page will show the requested post by the help of "Textlink" variable. In fact this variable is the identity of the post.

The followings are the "showtopic.php" page codes.

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // we check that if user has loged in or not

include "funcs.php"; // the functions look like : connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we include that file wherever it is required.

?>
<a href="logout.php">log out</a>
 

// the following html codes show a menu-bar on the page . they have been created by Frontpage . You can omit them.

<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title> show topic </title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#99FF66" >
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1055" height="625">

<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="148">
 
 
 
 
<a href="index.php"><img src="_derived/index.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="index.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="about.php"><img src="_derived/about.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="about.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="search.php"><img src="_derived/search.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="search.php" align="middle"></a> 
 
  show topic </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" width="300">
 

// the following is a hyperlink to reply a post , As you can see obviously , the variable "Textlink" is sent to reply page.

<a href="reply.php?Textlink= <?php echo $_GET["Textlink"]; ?> ">Reply this Topic</a>
 
 

// the following is just a list of forums

 main titles 
<?php
echo"
 
 
1.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=satire\">satire</a>
 
 
2.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=drama\">drama</a>
 
 
3.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=tragic\">tragic</a>
 
 
4.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=joke\">joke</a>
 
 
5.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=others\">others</a>
";
?>
  </td>
 <td valign="top" width="747">
 
 
 
 
 
<?php

// First we extraxt the post link (Textlink)

$topiclink = $_GET["Textlink"];

// some times the browser may add some space characters (or %20) to the adress bar (I don't know why , but it happens when user refreshes the page) , to avoid it we do "trim" and "str_place" editions on the variable.

$topiclink = trim($topiclink);
$topiclink = str_replace("%20", " ", $topiclink);

connect();

// extract the post with the link of Textlink from the database , there's just one post with this link

$sql = "SELECT * FROM topics WHERE link='$topiclink' ";
$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);

// put the results in some variables to use , these variables totally depends on the database that you have created , you can have less variables than here . most of the variables here , doesn't have any use . hahahahaha

$Textauthor = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0); // the post author

$Textfield = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 1); // the post forum field

$Textdate = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 2); // the post date

$TextTitle = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3); // the post title

$Textfoldername = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 4);
$Textlink = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 5);
$Textnumreply = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 6);
$number_of_view = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 7);
$number_of_report_abuse = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 8);

$data = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 9); // this is the post body

// the number of times that a post is viewed by the users , is a good parameter to hold an account for popular authors (most viewed) , so we use "$number_of_view" to hold this.

$number_of_view = $number_of_view +1;

// each time we update the "$number_of_view" variable on the database.

$sql = "UPDATE topics SET view = '$number_of_view' WHERE link='$topiclink' ";
mysql_query($sql);

// the following lines are showing the post on the screen , you can show the results in a beautiful format and inside of a table.

echo "Text Title = $TextTitle";
echo " ";
echo "Text author = $Textauthor";
echo " ";
echo "Text field = $Textfield";
echo " ";
echo "Text date = $Textdate";
echo " ";
echo "this story has been viewed " .$number_of_view. " time";
echo " ";

print ("<PRE>" . $data . "</PRE> ");

?>
<?php

/////////////////////////////REPLIES SHOWS HERE/////////////////////////////////////////////
// Now we extract the replies related to this post from the database.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM reply WHERE link='$topiclink' ";
$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);
$TotalResults = mysql_num_rows($SearchResult);

if($TotalResults != 0){

// look at the "for loop" parameters , I used a combination of variables in a way that the replies are shown by the date order ( the last reply is shown just under the post body)

for($i = $TotalResults - 1; $i != -1; $i-- )
{

$reply_author = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0);
$reply_text = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 2);
$reply_date = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3);
echo "<PRE>";
echo "reply_author = " . $reply_author . " ";
echo "reply_date = " . $reply_date . " ";
echo "</PRE>";
echo " ";
print ("<PRE>" . $reply_text . "</PRE> ");
}
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

?>

</td>
 <td valign="top" height="427" width="147">
 

  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="50">
 

  </td>
</tr>

</table>
</body>
</html>

 

<html dir="ltr">

Enough comments has been added to the codes so there's no more need to explain.
If you don't want to go over all of my weblog you may need to read the following posts to understand the current post :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/download-php-codes-of-complete-forum.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-add-variable-to-url-adress.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

how to reply a topic

2011-04-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

We want to develope a form for the forum visitors to reply each others posts. It's totally look like the newtopic page , so I recommend you to read that post first.

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-add-newtopic-ability-to-forum.html

First we need a form for reply enteries. Put the following codes in "reply.php".

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // we check that if user has loged in or not

session_start();

include ("funcs.php"); // the functions look like : connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we include that file wherever it is required.

?>
<a href="logout.php">log out</a>
 

// the following html codes show a menu-bar on the page . they have been created by Frontpage . You can omit them.

<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>reply this post </title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#99FF66" >
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1055" height="625">

<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="148">
 
 
 
 
<a href="index.php"><img src="_derived/index.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="index.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="about.php"><img src="_derived/about.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="about.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="search.php"><img src="_derived/search.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="search.php" align="middle"></a> 
 
 REply this post </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" width="161">
 
  </td>
 <td valign="top" width="747">
 
 

<?php

// when the user clicks on the submit button (on the page) , this form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "reply_preview.php" , there , base on the entered data two sessions ($_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] , $_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] ) are used to inform incorrect entered code or format.

// if the security code is entered incorrect $_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] is set to 1 and the browser is redirected to "reply.php" again.

// if one of the text fields is empty, $_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] is set to 1 and the browser is redirected to "reply.php" again.

if($_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] == 1){
echo "please enter the code correctly";
$_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] = 0;

}
if($_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] == 1){
echo "please fill all of the fields";
$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] = 0;

}
create_code(); // please see "the verification code post" on the weblog

?>

// this form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "reply_preview.php". the "Textlink" is the variable that is sent to "reply_preview.php" , There, "Textlink" is saved to the database with the others Reply enteries. In future , the "replies" of a post can be extracted by Textlink from the database.

<FORM ACTION="reply_preview.php?Textlink=<?php echo $_GET["Textlink"]; ?> " METHOD=POST>

 
 
post body:
 
<textarea name="body" ROWS=20 COLS=100 ></textarea>
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="SecCode3" SIZE="30" >
 
<img src="security_image.php">
 
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="BUTTON2" VALUE="new_reply">
</FORM>
</td>
 <td valign="top" height="427" width="147">
 
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="50">
 
  </td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

 

<html dir="ltr">

when the user clicks on the submit button (on the page) , this form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "reply_preview.php" , there the enteries are processed and if there is any problem such as , wrong verification code , empty text field and wrong format for enteries , the user is redirected to "reply.php" to correct his enteries and the appropriate message is shown related to the problem . If there isn't any problem then the enteries will be recorded in the database and the browser will be directed to the post that the user had intended to reply .

In the following you can see the codes of "reply_preview.php" page :

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc";
include "funcs.php";
session_start();

// some processes over security code .

$UserSecCode = strtolower($_POST["SecCode3"]);
$SysSecCopde = strtolower($_SESSION["SecImageStr"]);
if($UserSecCode != $SysSecCopde){

// check if the security image has been entered correctly

$_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] = 1;

// notice the redirection here, "Textlink" variable should be sent.

$dd = "reply.php?Textlink=".$_GET["Textlink"];
header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}

if( (($_POST["body"])=="") )
{

// check if there is any of the text fields empty

$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] = 1;
$dd = "reply.php?Textlink=".$_GET["Textlink"];
header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}else{

// deactivate the error sessions because now there is no problem

$_SESSION["sec_code_err_3"] = 0;
$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields_2"] = 0;

// the author of the reply is one of the things that should be recorded to the database:

$user = $_SESSION["auth_usr"];
$user = htmlspecialchars($user);
$user = str_replace("'", "", $user);
$user = str_replace(".", "", $user);
$user = str_replace("/", "", $user);

// the date is an other thing that should be recorded in to the database.

$Today = date("Ymd");

// the post link (Textlink) , is an identity for the reply , it is recorded to the database.

$topiclink = $_GET["Textlink"];

// After each time of redirection (to correct the errors of the user who wants to submit a reply) , some unwanted "space" characters may appear in the address bar , we can get rid of them by a "trim" and "str_replace".

$topiclink = trim($topiclink);

$topiclink = str_replace("%20", " ", $topiclink); // notice that "%20" in the address bar is equal to "space" character.

// the reply body should be recorded in to the database.

$data = $_POST["body"];
connect_2();
$Today = date("Ymd");

// the reply information (author,link,body,date) are recorded to the database.

$sql = "INSERT INTO reply (author,link,text,date) VALUES ('$user','$topiclink','$data','$Today')";
mysql_query($sql);

//after the completion of the record , the browser is redirected to the post page , and the user can see his reply under the post.

$dd = "showtopic.php?Textlink=".$_GET["Textlink"];
header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}
?>

The comments in codes are enough to understand them. You can go to "How to show a certain post by user demand" to understand how the replies are shown under a post.

how to add newtopic ability to a forum

2011-04-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

Look at this forum page :

When user clicks on "add_new_story" button (or any other names such as , new topic , new post) , he is directed to "newtopic.php" page , this page is a form that user can enter his post in it , ( a hidden variable is also sent to this page to inform it that the user is directed from which forum ), as you can see in the image below the new-topic page contains : a drop-off menu to choose the post issue (field) , a text field for Title , a text field for post body , a verification code field and a submit button.

Put the following codes in "newtopic.php" file .

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // we check that if user has loged in or not

include ("funcs.php"); // the functions look like : connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we include that file wherever it is required.

?>
<a href="logout.php">log out</a>
 

// the following html codes show a menu-bar on the page . they have been created by Frontpage . You can omit them.

<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>new story </title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#99FF66" >
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1055" height="625">

<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="148">
 
 
 
 
<a href="index.php"><img src="_derived/index.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="index.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="about.php"><img src="_derived/about.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="about.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="search.php"><img src="_derived/search.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="search.php" align="middle"></a> 
 
 new story </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" width="161">
 
  </td>
 <td valign="top" width="747">
 
 
<?php

// when the user clicks on the submit button (on the page) , the form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "topic_preview.php" , there , base on the entered data two sessions ($_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] , $_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] ) are used to inform incorrect entered code or format.

// if the security code is entered incorrect $_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] is set to 1 and the browser is redirected to "newtopic.php" again.

// if one of the text fields is empty, $_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] is set to 1 and the browser is redirected to "newtopic.php" again.

if($_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] == 1){
echo "please enter the code correctly";
$_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] = 0;

}
if($_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] == 1){
echo "please fill all of the fields";
$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] = 0;

}
create_code(); // please see "the verification code post" on the weblog

?>
 
PLease enter title contains only numbers, Capital and Small letters and space
 
 

// this form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "topic_preview.php"

<FORM ACTION="topic_preview.php" METHOD=POST>

<?php

// A drop-off menu to assign the post field , the default value has been sent from the forum page ("showforum.php") by a hidden variable to inform the forum issue.

$options = array("satire" => "SATIRE","drama" => "DRAMA","tragic" => "TRAGIC"
,"joke" => "JOKE","others" => "OTHERS");
$default= $_POST["originforum"];
$html = generate_menu("field",$options,$default);
echo $html;
?>
 
 
Title:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="title" SIZE="100" >
 
 
post body:
 
<textarea name="body" ROWS=40 COLS=100 ></textarea>
 
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="SecCode2" SIZE="30" >
 
<img src="security_image.php">
 
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="BUTTON2" VALUE="new_topic">
</FORM>
</td>
 <td valign="top" height="427" width="147">
 
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="50">
 
  </td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

 

<html dir="ltr">

when the user clicks on the submit button (on the page) , the form information is sent to an other php page to process , for example "topic_preview.php" , there the enteries are processed and if there is any problem such as , wrong verification code , empty text field and wrong format for enteries , the user is redirected to "newtopic.php" to correct his enteries and the appropriate message is shown related to the problem . If there isn't any problem then the enteries will be recorded in the database and the browser will be directed to the forum that the user had begun from it (the forum that the user wanted to submit a new post to it).
In the following you can see the codes of "topic_preview.php" page :

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc";
include "funcs.php";
session_start();

// some processes over security code .

$UserSecCode = strtolower($_POST["SecCode2"]);
$SysSecCopde = strtolower($_SESSION["SecImageStr"]);
if($UserSecCode != $SysSecCopde){

// check if the security code has been entered correctly

$_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] = 1;
header("Location: newtopic.php");
exit;
}

if( (($_POST["title"])=="") or (($_POST["body"])=="") )

// check if there is any of the text fields empty

{
$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] = 1;
header("Location: newtopic.php");
exit;
}else{

// deactivate the error sessions because now there is no problem

$_SESSION["sec_code_err_2"] = 0;
$_SESSION["fill_all_of_fields"] = 0;

// the author's username of the post is one of the things that should be recorded to the database:

$user = $_SESSION["auth_usr"];

// some prosses over the entered title

$title = $_POST["title"];
$user = trim($user); // trim omits "space" characters from two sides of a text
$title = trim($title);

$user = htmlspecialchars($user); // change html characters in to regular text , this is an anti-hack process

$title = htmlspecialchars($title);
if(ereg("[^a-zA-z0-9\ ]",$title))
{

// here we chek the title format that it should contain only numbers and letters , I haven't defined any session for it to show a message , you can do it by yourselves. Anyway , the user is redirected to "newtopic.php" if the format isn't correct.

header("Location: newtopic.php");
exit;

}

// omit the dangerous characters from the enteries , these are far too much process on the data , I just wanted to show you a bunch of these processes.

$user = str_replace("'", "", $user);
$title = str_replace("'", "", $title);

$user = str_replace("\\", "", $user);
$title = str_replace("\\", "", $title);

$post_folder = ($user . $title .md5(rand(0,9999))); // this line is not needed , in the previous version of my codes , I wanted to work with files , but i have changed my codes and this guy has remained from then.

// the post body should be recorded in to the database.

$data = $_POST["body"];

// post field (the entery from the drop-off menu) shows that the post belongs to which forum.

$path = $_POST['field'];
connect_2();

// the date is an other thing that should be recorded in to the database.

$Today = date("Ymd");

// This is the most important thing : For each new post we produce a "$link" variable , this variable is unique for each post it is a combination of the date ($Today) , author name ($user) , the post title ($title) and a random created string( md5(rand(0,9999)) ). This link ($link) is recoreded in to the database and it's also used in the hyperlink to the post on the forum.

$link = ($Today . $user . $title .md5(rand(0,9999)));

// the post information are recorded to the database , the following query is used to record . the variable "numreply" (that is zero by default) , shows the number of replies that is submitted to the post.

$sql = "INSERT INTO topics (author,field,date,title,foldername,link,numreply,text) VALUES ('$user','$path','$Today','$title','$post_folder','$link','0','$data')";
mysql_query($sql);

// After the post was recorded to the database , it's time to direct the user to the forum. we direct the user to "showforum.php" and we also send the variable "link" , to inform the field of the forum to be shown.

$dd = "showforum.php?link=". $_POST['field'];
header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}
?>

As I told in the comments of the codes , For each new post we produce a "$link" variable , this variable is unique for each post , it is a combination of the date ($Today) , author name ($user) , the post title ($title) and a random created string( md5(rand(0,9999)) ). This link ($link) is recoreded in to the database and it's also used in the hyperlink to the post on the forum.

Now to produce a hyperlink to a certain post , we can use the following codes. (these codes are belong to "showforum.php" ) . you can see :
http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-show-posts-inside-of-forum.html

Codes:

connect();

$sql = "SELECT * FROM topics WHERE field='$forumlink' "; // we extarct the post under a certain forum issue (field)

$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);

$TotalResults = mysql_num_rows($SearchResult);

$TextTitle = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3); // for all search results we put the post title in "$TextTitle" .($i is a counter , it means the i-th result)

$Textauthor = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0); // for all search results we put the post author in "$Textauthor" .

$Textlink = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 5); // for all search results we put the post link (the variable we discussed about in the above) in "$Textlink".

echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>"; // now we produce a hyperlink that the "link" (Textlink) is its variable. The page "showtopic.php" will show the appropriate post base on the variable.

You may need to read the following posts to understand the current post better :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-make-drop-off-menu.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-make-verification-text-field.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-add-variable-to-url-adress.html

how to make a drop off menu

2011-04-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Drop-off menu is one of the most effective form elements. User can select his choice easilly , and this kind of element takes very small room .But the html codes to generate a drop-off menu are a little boring to add. So here , we show a function that you can summon anywhere you want to add a drop-off menu.
Add the following codes to "funcs.php" (the file to hold the functions of your website , you will include it to the page that you want to summon the functions in it).

code:

function generate_menu($name,$options,$default =""){

// the function has three variables that should be sent to it. variable "$name" is the name of the drop-off menu that you want to creat , variable "$options" is an array that contains the options that are shown in the Drop-off menu , Variable "$default" is an optional variable (it can be remained unvalued) , it's the default value of the drop-off menu.

// the following codes produce the drop-off menu html and return it ($html) as the output.

$html = "<SELECT NAME=\"$name\">";
foreach($options as $value => $label){
$html .="<OPTION ";
if($value == $default)
$html .="SELECTED ";
$html .="VALUE=\"$value\">$label</OPTION>";
}
$html .= "</SELECT>";
return($html);
}

Now , we have the function to generate a dropp-off menu , to summon the function use the following codes in the page that you want to have a drop-off menu.
Assume , you want to have a drop-off menu with the name of "field" and with these five options , "satire,drama,tragic,joke,others"

code:

<?php
$options = array("satire" => "SATIRE","drama" => "DRAMA","tragic" => "TRAGIC"
,"joke" => "JOKE","others" => "OTHERS"); // Options variable is an array of options

$default= "satire";
$html = generate_menu("field",$options,$default); // summon the function
echo $html;
?>

the result of these codes is look like the image.

How to show posts inside of a forum

2011-04-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Assume that our forum has five fields : (for example visit : http://story-world.99k.org/)

1.Satire Stories
2.Drama Stories
3.Tragic Stories
4.Jokes
5.other not listed catagories

We want to direct our user to the posts under the clicked field. We can do it just by one common page , but we send a variable to the common page to inform it which field the user requested.
To know how to add variables to a url address see :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-add-variable-to-url-adress.html
Put these hyperlinks (for above fields) , in your index page :

code:

 
1.<a href="showforum.php?link=satire">Satire Stories</a>
 
 
2.<a href="showforum.php?link=drama">Drama Stories</a>
 
 
3.<a href="showforum.php?link=tragic">Tragic Stories</a>
 
 
4.<a href="showforum.php?link=joke">Jokes</a>
 
 
5.<a href="showforum.php?link=others">other not listed catagories</a>

Here we add the variable "link" to our url address. The user is directed to the common page "showforum.php" and there , base on the variable "link" the appropriate posts are shown.
Now , build a new php file , rename it to "showforum.php" and put the following codes in it.

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // we check that if user has loged in or not
include "funcs.php"; // the functions look like : connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we include that file wherever it is required. Here we want to summon the function "get_pages_html". This function produces page number links. If we have 40 posts under a field just 10 of them will be shown on each page and to visit the next 10 posts , the user should go to page 2. To know about this function go to :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-show-page-number-for-forum.html

?>

<?php
$forumlink = $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]; // this is not needed hahaha

// first extract the variable "link" , and put it in a local variabe.

$forumlink = $_GET["link"]; // the field of the forum that is sent from the index page
?>
<a href="logout.php">log out</a>
 

// the following html codes show a menu-bar on the page . they have been created by Frontpage . You can omit them.

<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title> <?php echo $forumlink; ?> </title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#99FF66" >
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1055" height="625">

<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="148">
 
 
 
 
<a href="index.php"><img src="_derived/index.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="index.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="about.php"><img src="_derived/about.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="about.php" align="middle"></a> <a href="search.php"><img src="_derived/search.php_cmp_poetic000_hbtn.gif" width="154" height="37" border="0" alt="search.php" align="middle"></a> 
 
 <?php echo $forumlink; ?> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" width="300">
 

// the codes here shows a button to create a new post on the forum it is described under "how to add newtopic ability to a forum" post.

<FORM ACTION="newtopic.php" METHOD=POST>
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="originforum" VALUE= "<?php echo $forumlink ?>" >
the button redirects you to the form text box
 
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="BUTTON_new_topic" VALUE="add_new_story">
</FORM>
 
 
 
 main titles 
<?php
echo"
 

// the following is a menu of the fields in our website.
 
1.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=satire\">satire</a>
 
 
2.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=drama\">drama</a>
 
 
3.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=tragic\">tragic</a>
 
 
4.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=joke\">joke</a>
 
 
5.<a href=\"showforum.php?link=others\">others</a>
";
?>
 

  </td>
 <td valign="top" width="747">
 
 
 
 
 
<?php
connect();
$sql = "SELECT * FROM topics WHERE field='$forumlink' "; // extract all of the posts in the forum field

$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);
$TotalResults = mysql_num_rows($SearchResult);
$num_show_post = 20; //select an even number for the number of posts are showed in a page
if($TotalResults%2 == 0){

// based on the number of results we calculate the number of pages that is needed to show the results

$page_num = intval($TotalResults/$num_show_post); // "intval" returns the integer value of its variable

}else{
$page_num = intval($TotalResults/$num_show_post)+1;
}
$p = $_GET["p"]; // the current page number
$page_num = $GLOBALS['page_num']; // this line is not needed , you can omit it , it changes "$page_num" into a global variable.

if ($p == "")
$p = 1;
$counter = $TotalResults - (($p-1)*$num_show_post); // based on the page number and number of posts to show on a page , we calculate this counter

for($i = $counter - 1; $i != $counter - $num_show_post -1; $i-- )

// by the calculated counter , show the appropriate posts on a page

{
$TextTitle = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3);
$Textauthor = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0);
$Textlink = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 5);

echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>"; // make a hyper link to the post that is clicked

echo " ";
}
?>
</td>
 <td valign="top" height="427" width="147">

 
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td valign="top" colspan="3" height="50">
 
 
 

 <?php
 echo get_pages_html(); // the page number function "get_pages_html" is summoned here.

 ?>
  </td>
</tr>

</table>
</body>
</html>

 

<html dir="ltr">

Enough comments has been added to the codes so there's no more need to explain.
The resulting forum page is look like :

If you don't want to go over all of my weblog you may need to read the following posts to understand the current post :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-show-page-number-for-forum.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/download-php-codes-of-complete-forum.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-add-variable-to-url-adress.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

How to show page number for a forum

2011-04-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Page numbers are one of the most interesting php powers , in the following image you can see an example for page numbering that allows the user to see sufficient number of results on each page.

Add the following function to the file that you store your functions on it (for example funcs.php) and add the file by an include to any page that you want to show page numbering on it.

the function codes:

function get_pages_html()
{
 $p = $_GET["p"];
 $page_num = $GLOBALS['page_num'] +1; // if you have downloaded "my forum codes" , there's an error in it on this line , kindly correct it from here.

 if ($p == "")
 $p = 1;
$begin_page = 1;
if($p == 1 or $p == 2 or $p == 3){
$begin_page = 1;
}else{
$begin_page = $p-3;
}
if($p >= $page_num-3){
$end_page = $page_num;

}else{

$end_page = $begin_page+5;
}

 $html = "page $p from $page_num   ";

 if ($page_num > 1)

 {
 for ($i=$begin_page; $i<= $end_page; $i++)
 {
 if ($i == $p)
 $html .= "$p ";
 else
 {
 $link = $_GET["link"];
 $url ="showforum.php?link=$link&p=$i";

 $html .= "<a href= ".$url." >".$i."</a> ";
 }
 }
 }
 return $html;

}
error_reporting( 0);
?>

The codes of this function are easy to understand so I explain just some points. This function produces an html code that shows the image above.

First in the codes:

$html = "page $p from $page_num   ";

Here , we produce a format like "page 2 from 6" , the number of pages "$page_num" is a parameter that is sent from the place that the function is summoned , the current page number "$p" can be sent to the function or in its default value is obviosly equal to one.

Second in the codes :

 if ($page_num > 1)

 {
 for ($i=$begin_page; $i<= $end_page; $i++)
 {
 if ($i == $p)
 $html .= "$p ";
 else
 {
 $link = $_GET["link"];
 $url ="showforum.php?link=$link&p=$i";

 $html .= "<a href= ".$url." >".$i."</a> ";
 }
 }
 }

We show the page numbers in the shape of hyperlink that direct the user to the other pages results. Link variable "$link" is an other thing that is sent from the place that the function is summoned.
The produced hyperlink for each page number directs the user to the same page (here , it is "showforum.php" , but it also can be replaced by "search.php" or any other page that wants to summon the function) , that the function (get_pages_html) is summoned in it.

Now the function "get_pages_html" is ready to summoned on the page "showforum.php" . These are the codes in the page "showforum.php" related to page numbering action. (I describe "showforum.php" codes totally in an other post ).
The codes related to page numbering on "showforum.php" :

codes:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // test the login

include "funcs.php"; // include the file contain the function "get_pages_html"

$forumlink = $_GET["link"]; // the field of the forum that is sent from the index page

connect();

$sql = "SELECT * FROM topics WHERE field='$forumlink' "; // extract all of the posts in the forum field

$SearchResult = mysql_query($sql);

$TotalResults = mysql_num_rows($SearchResult);

$num_show_post = 4; // select an even number for the number of posts are showed in a page

if($TotalResults%2 == 0){

// based on the number of results we calculate the number of pages that is needed to show the results

$page_num = intval($TotalResults/$num_show_post); // "intval" returns the integer value of its variable

}else{
$page_num = intval($TotalResults/$num_show_post)+1;
}
$p = $_GET["p"]; // the current page number

$page_num = $GLOBALS['page_num']; // this line is not needed , you can omit it , it changes "$page_num" into a global variable.

if ($p == "")
$p = 1;
$counter = $TotalResults - (($p-1)*$num_show_post); // based on the page number and the number of posts to show on a page , we calculate this counter

for($i = $counter - 1; $i != $counter - $num_show_post -1; $i-- )
/
/ by the calculated counter , show the appropriate number of posts on a page

{
$TextTitle = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 3);
$Textauthor = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 0);
$Textlink = mysql_result($SearchResult, $i, 5);

echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>"; // make a hyper link to the post that is clicked

echo " ";
}
?>
<?php
echo get_pages_html(); // the page number function "get_pages_html" is summoned here.
?>

Enough comments has been added to the codes so there's no more need to explain.
If you don't want to go over all of my weblog you may need to read the following posts to understand the current post :

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/download-php-codes-of-complete-forum.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-add-variable-to-url-adress.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

How to make a login page

2011-03-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

Please , look at the following post that is about directing a user to login page from a requested page:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/redirect-user-to-login-page-sessions.html

If the user click on any link in our website he is directed to login page to login first and after it he is redirected to his requested page.
Copy these codes for "login.php" page.

code:

<?php
session_start();
include ("funcs.php"); // the functions look like connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we included that file wherever it is required.

if(!$_POST["usr"] or !$_POST["pasw"]){
// if the username or password field is empty the appropriate message is shown.

echo "you must enter user and password ";
}

else{

// these are some processes that you can do over the enteries to prevent from database injection (hacking)

$entered_usr=$_POST["usr"];
$entered_pass=$_POST["pasw"];

$entered_usr=trim($entered_usr); // omit the space characters from the begin and end of the word
$entered_pass=trim($entered_pass);

$entered_usr = htmlspecialchars($entered_usr); // change any code in to non-html characters (hackers may enter html characters in to your system)

$entered_pass = htmlspecialchars($entered_pass);

$entered_usr = str_replace("'", "", $entered_usr);
$entered_pass = str_replace("'", "", $entered_pass);

$entered_usr = str_replace("\\", "", $entered_usr);
$entered_pass = str_replace("\\", "", $entered_pass);

connect();

// first , connect the stream to the database and find the password related to the entered username and compare it to the entered password.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username='$entered_usr' ";
$search_result = mysql_query($sql);
$password = mysql_result($search_result,0,1);
}

$salt = substr($password,0,2); // finding $salt (the cryption code) by choosing the first two characters of the password from database

if((!ereg("[^a-zA-z0-9\ ]",$entered_usr)) and (crypt($entered_pass,$salt) == $password)){

// here we compare the password over the database with the encrypted version of the entered password. if it is correct the user is redirected to his requested page and the authority session ($_SESSION["auth_usr"]) is set.

$_SESSION["auth_usr"]=$entered_usr;
$dd = $_SESSION["d"];
header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}
else{

// if the entered password (after encryption ) is not equal to the password over the database , the appropriate message is shown.

echo "incorrect user or password";
}
?>
 
 
<FORM ACTION="login.php" METHOD=POST>
user NAME:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="usr" SIZE="30" >
 
password:
<INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD" NAME="pasw" SIZE="30" >
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="BUTTON1" VALUE="loginn">
</FORM>
 
 
<?php

// if the user has not registered yet he can go for registeration to the signup page by the following link.

echo "<a href=\"signup.php\">if you haven't user please sign up</a>";
?>

For logout just remove all of the session elements . To make logout link you can put the following link for logout to be shown over all of your pages :

code:

<a href="logout.php">log out</a>

And put these codes in "logout.php" page.

code:

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION = array(); // remove all of the session elements.
header("Location: index.php"); // direct the stream to the first page of your website.
exit;
?>

If you couldn't find out about the codes here go the following posts to read more about the orders I have used here:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/redirect-user-to-login-page-sessions.html
http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

Just one more case about crypt function:

The crypted text result = crypt(the text that we want to encrypt,$salt);

This function encrypt words by use of the variable $salt. if you use a two characters salt then the two first characters of the encrypted result always would be your salt.
for example :

code:

$pass = "v1" ;
$salt = "qw";
$result = crypt($pass,$salt);
Then "$result" would be :

$result = "qwbw9k/vI9OlY";

We have used this here :

$salt = substr($password,0,2);

We don't assign our $salt on the codes above, instead we extract our $salt directly from the encrypted password on the database.

How to show flash movies or games and youtube movies

2011-03-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

You can place movies or flash component directly on your webpage , by Frontpage program as I explained before:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-design-php-website-by-help-of.html

However this is the easiest way but , I explain codes that are needed for flash and youtube players here. I think it's more convenient for an expert to work with codes than Frontpage.

-------------------------------------------
Put a flash game or movie on a page:

This is an example , look at these html codes.

code:

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="475" height="472">
<param name="movie" value="my_games/game1.swf">
<param name="quality" value="High">
<embed src="my_games/game1.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="475" height="472"></object>

The first part of these codes begins an object (<object) , and some of the object features are defined right here : id , codebase (it's not important to know) and size properties : border , width , height.

The second part is an important line , it contains the name and folder (on the sever) of the flash file that should be shown. In our example the folder is "my_games" and the name of the flash file is "game1.swf" .

The third part determines the quality that flash movie or game should be shown by it. Lower quality causes the flash file to be loaded faster.

The fourth part of the code is also important.

src = "of file path or name"

This code displays the file in front of it on the browser without any hesitation about its format. The file can be an image , flash file or even a PHP page that produces an image temporary.
The code "pluginspage" introduces the plugin that is needed for this Object , here it is "flash player".
The code "type" shows that the file is a flash file (application/x-shockwave-flash).
Object name (id) , height and width should be repeated at the end of the object. The end of the object is assigned by </object>.

-------------------------------------------
Put a youtube movie on a page:

First of all , let's learn about youtube online movie addresses. This is an address for a youtube movie:(just copied from my browser address bar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boJ36l1llMc&feature=BF&list=PL9618A148C564157A&index=29

if you replace watch?v= with v/ , this address also works but now, it can be used in yourown webpage.
So edit the address in to:

http://www.youtube.com/v/boJ36l1llMc&feature=BF&list=PL9618A148C564157A&index=29

Infact this part of the address "&feature=BF&list=PL9618A148C564157A&index=29" contains only a bunch of $_GET variables that doesn't have effect on the movie stream (they can be omitted).

Now , you are ready to put a movie object in your page.
Look at these html codes.

code:

<object class="restrain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="385" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/boJ36l1llMc&feature=BF&list=FLRCuFb8lHRO4&index=41">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/boJ36l1llMc&feature=BF&list=FLRCuFb8lHRO4&index=41" />
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
</object>

The first part of the codes begins an object from the type of "application/x-shockwave-flash" and defines width and height of the object. The address that we built should be placed in two positions first as the data variable in the first part.
And second as value variable in the second part of the codes. Don't change the third part of the codes. And in the last line the object is ended up with </object>.

You can now copy , paste the codes here in to your php (or html) files and change just the address , to show yourown movies.

Sign up page

2011-03-05T13:45:00.000-08:00

Signup page is the page that users submit their username and passwords , so that they would be registered users and they can login again in the future.

For the appearance of the signup page we need a form with input fields and buttons to input the data:
Make a page with "signup.php" name and enter these simple codes in it , it contains a verification field that you can find out about it in : http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-make-verification-text-field.html

code:

<?php
session_start();
include ("funcs.php");
if($_SESSION["repeated_usr"] == 1){
// to show that the entered username has been selected before by an other user so it's not available to choose.
echo "please choose an other username , this is repeative";
}
if($_SESSION["Security_code_error"] == 1){
// to show that the security code has not been entered correctly
echo "please enter the secuity code correctly";
}
create_code(); // see it in the post about verification field
?>
 
PLease enter username and passwords contain only numbers, Capital and Small letters and space
 
 
<FORM ACTION="mysql_1.php" METHOD=POST>
user NAME:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="usr" SIZE="30" >
 
 
password:
<INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD" NAME="pasw" SIZE="30" >
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="SecCode" SIZE="30" >
 
<img src="security_image.php">
 
 
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="BUTTON2" VALUE="sign up">
</FORM>

When a user click on the submit button he is directed in to "mysql_1.php" page that analyzes the entered username , password and security code.
The Following codes are contents of this page ("mysql_1.php").

code:

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION["Security_code_error"]=0; // a session element to check the security code (verification text) that should be entered correctly by user
$_SESSION["repeated_usr"] = 0; // a session element to check if the entered username has already been selected by an other user , or not?
include ("funcs.php"); // functions look like connect (to connect to the database) and creatcode (for verification text) can be put in a file and then we included that file wherever it is required.

if(!$_POST["usr"] or !$_POST["pasw"]){
// if the username or password field is empty the browser is redirected to "signup.php" page.
header("Location: signup.php");
exit;
}

$UserSecCode = strtolower($_POST["SecCode"]); // change all of the letters in to lower case
$SysSecCopde = strtolower($_SESSION["SecImageStr"]);

if($UserSecCode != $SysSecCopde){
// if security code is not entered correctly , the browser is redirected to "signup.php" page.
$_SESSION["Security_code_error"] = 1; // this variable is sent to signup page to show the appropriate message.
header("Location: signup.php");
exit;
}

// these are some processes that you can do over the enteries to prevent from database injection (hacking)

$entered_usr=$_POST["usr"];
$entered_pass=$_POST["pasw"];

$entered_usr=trim($entered_usr); // omit the space characters from the begin and end of the word
$entered_pass=trim($entered_pass);

$entered_usr = htmlspecialchars($entered_usr); // change any entery in to non-html characters (hackers may enter html characters in to your system)

$entered_pass = htmlspecialchars($entered_pass);

if(ereg("[^a-zA-z0-9\ ]",$entered_usr)){
// this condition checks the configuration of the entered username. The username should contain only capital and small letters and numbers.

$_SESSION["repeated_usr"] = 1; // we redirect the user to signup page , but I haven't used any new session element to show this issue.

header("Location: signup.php");
exit;

}

// an other series of processes over data to prevent database injection (hacking) , I'm too much cautious , you can omit them.

$entered_usr = str_replace("'", "", $entered_usr);
$entered_pass = str_replace("'", "", $entered_pass);
$entered_usr = str_replace("\\", "", $entered_usr);
$entered_pass = str_replace("\\", "", $entered_pass);

// first we check if the entered username is repeative , or not?
$Sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE username='$entered_usr' ";
connect();
$Result = mysql_query($Sql) or die(mysql_error() . " SQL: " . $Sql);
if(mysql_result($Result, 0) > 0 ){
$_SESSION["repeated_usr"] = 1;
header("Location: signup.php");
exit;

}else{

// if the entered username has no problem now we can enter username , password and date in to our database

$Today = date("Ymd");
$salt = "qw";
$entered_pass = crypt($entered_pass,$salt); // we crypt the password not to be recovered easily.

$sql = "INSERT INTO users (username,password,joindate) VALUES ('$entered_usr','$entered_pass','$Today')";
mysql_query($sql);

$_SESSION["auth_usr"]=$entered_usr; // this session shows that the user has been registered and he is now loged in.

$dd = $_SESSION["d"]; // this session element contains the page (address) that the user has been redirected from it.

header("Location: $dd");
exit;
}
?>

If you couldn't understand about the codes here go to the following posts to read more about the orders I have used here:

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/redirect-user-to-login-page-sessions.html

http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/php-orders-to-work-with-database-and.html

Just one more case about crypt function:

The crypted text result = crypt ( the text that we want to encrypt , $salt );

This function encrypt words by use of the variable $salt. if you use a two characters salt then the two first characters of the encrypted result always would be your salt.
for example :

code:

$pass = "v1" ;
$salt = "qw";
$result = crypt($pass,$salt);
Then "$result" would be :

$result = "qwbw9k/vI9OlY"

As you can see , you can extract $salt from the encrypted data over your database just by selecting the first two characters of $result.

How to make a verification text field

2011-02-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

You must have seen verification fields , users have to enter a text manually to submit their information in to the website. This verification prevents hackers to make a program to enter a data too many time and fill your server with nonsense things.
for example the figure here shows a verification field for a sign up page.

The verification text is a random generated code that has been converted in to image.
Put this code in the page that you want to show verification code in it. (i.e. sign up page).

code:

<?php
create_code(); // a function to create a random number to show in verification area
?>
 
<img src="Security_Image.php">
 

Now in a file that you put your functions (and you can include it to the begining of any other php file) add these codes for create_code function.

code:

function create_code()
{
session_start();
$SecCode = md5(rand(0,9999)); // create random number and "md5" function converts it in to a hashed code
$SecCode = strtolower($SecCode); // change all of the letters to lower case
$_SESSION['SecImageStr'] = strtoupper(substr($SecCode,0,4)); // change it to a four letters code
}

Now make a php file with "Security_Image.php" name. and put these codes in it.

code:

session_start();
$Str = $_SESSION['SecImageStr'];
$SecImage = imagecreate( 3*50, 3*20);
$BgColor = imagecolorallocate( $SecImage, 255, 150, 220); // Background color
$FrColor = imagecolorallocate( $SecImage, 0, 0, 255); // ForeGround color
$LineColor = imagecolorallocate( $SecImage, 255, 0, 150); // Lines color
for($Index = 0; $Index != 6; $Index++)
{
$LineDegree = rand(15, 50);
imageline ( $SecImage, $Index, $LineDegree, 2*($Index+1) * 20, 2*$Index,$LineColor ); // draw lines
}
imagestring ( $SecImage, 40, 10*5, 10*1, $Str, $FrColor ) ; // convert code text in to image and save it in to $SecImage
imagejpeg ( $SecImage , '', 100 ) ; // make a jpg image from $SecImage
header("Content-type: image/jpg"); // show the image on the screen in users' browser
imagedestroy ( $SecImage ) ; // there's no more need to the image so it is deleted

Now , you can have a verification code field.

Download PHP codes of a complete forum

2011-02-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

To download the full PHP codes of my forum you can click on this link:

http://story-world.99k.org/download_forum_codes.php

You can see this forum online on the following address:

http://story-world.99k.org/

How to upload a file

2011-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

example:

code:

<?php
$file_dir = "/folder default name to upload from";
$file_url ="a url that shows where the file has been uploaded to .i.e http://www.myserver.com/vahid/uploads";
if ( isset( $fupload ) )
{
print "path: $fupload \n"; // the folder of the file that is uploaded
print "name: $fupload_name \n"; // the name of the file that is uploaded
print "size: $fupload_size bytes \n"; // the size of the file that is uploaded
print "type: $fupload_type\n\n"; // the type of the file that is uploaded
if ( $fupload_type == "image/gif" )
{
copy ( $fupload, "$file_dir/$fupload_name") or die ("Couldn't copy");
print "<img src=\"$file_url/$fupload_name\">\n\n";
}
}
?>
<form enctype="multipart/form-data" action="<?php print $PHP_SELF?>" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="51200">
<input type="file" name="fupload"> 
<input type="submit" value="Send file!">
</form>

The order of "enctype="multipart/form-data opens a dialog box to upload a file. The variable MAX_FILE_SIZE assigns the maximum allowed size for uplouding.
Then the assigned file is sent to this page again and the command "copy" copies the file to the server and shows a url for it.

How to make a download link

2011-02-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

To make a download link , just put a hyper link to a an other page contains download headers.
I explain it by an example:

Put a hyper link to download page:

Code:

<a href="music2_download.php">download</a>

If user clicks on this link , he is redirected to "music2_download.php" page. Put the following codes in "music2_download.php" file.

code:

<?php
include "auth.inc"; // This code insure that just registered users can download our file
?>
<?php
$FileName = "/music2.swf"; // the name of the file that is downloaded
$FilePath = "my_music"; // the folder of the file that is downloaded , you can put the file in a folder on the server just for more order

$size = filesize($FilePath . $FileName) ;
header("Content-Type: application/force-download; name=\"". $FileName ."\"");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
header("Content-Length: ". $size ."");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"". $FileName ."\"");
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
echo (readfile($FilePath . $FileName));
?>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is an extra part for this post :

You may want to use just one "download.php" page for all of your downloads. You can send the file name through a hidden variable , The form below allows to send the file name to "download.php" page :

code:

<FORM ACTION="download.php" METHOD=POST>

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="music_name" VALUE= "music1.swf" >

 
To download music1:
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="download_music1" VALUE=" download_music1 ">

</FORM>

<FORM ACTION="download.php" METHOD=POST>

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="music_name" VALUE= "music2.swf" >

 
To download music2:
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="download_music2" VALUE=" download_music2">

</FORM>

Now Just add this line to "download.php" , to give the file name to "download.php:

$FileName = "/".$_POST["music_name"]; // put the file name in its variable.

Now you have a Universal "download.php".

How to add a variable to URL adress

2011-02-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

It's a very effective trick to play with the $_GET variables in url address.
As we all know , the internet uses two ways to send variables from a page to an other one :
1. POST 2. GET

All of the variables in a webpage are sent in a universal array in the form of $_GET or $_POST. There is a different between these two methods. GET method attaches the variables to the end of the url address but POST method sends the variables hidden and more protected , so it's recommended to send the username and password variables by POST method.

You can add variables directly to url address , in fact you act as if you pass them by GET method manually.
For example :
the following html shows a link to an other page.

code:
<a href = "showtopic.php"> title of the topic</a>

If you want to redirect the user to a common page that shows a content depend on a variable that is received through link , you can use the following php code.

code:

$TextTitle = "title of the topic";
$Textlink = "a string that is specified to recognize the requested content";
echo "<a href=\"showtopic.php?Textlink=" .$Textlink. " \">" . $TextTitle . "</a>";

This code is an active link. It redirets the user to "showtopic.php" page . it also sends "Textlink" variable to the page , so the server decides base on the variable to show the appropriate content.

So to add a variable to an adress just add a ? sign to its end and then type the variable name , = sign and the variable content:

url adress ? variable name = "variable content"

PHP orders to work with Database and some useful MYSQL orders

2011-02-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

Here , I list a bunch of Mysql orders that are needed most.
To work with Mysql on yourown computer you can install WAMP server and then go to phpmyadmin page:

http://localhost/phpmyadmin/index.php

There , create a new database . A database is look like a matrix. It contains tables that are rows of the matrix and fields that are columns of the matrix.

phpmyadmin is very user friendly so you don't need to deal with the Queries that are needed to create a database , tables and fields .(the orders in SQL are called query)

On the other hand phpmyadmin will return you the queries of the creation process and you can learn them if you want. BUT most servers have database manager program that is very user friendly.
In a website you can create your databases , tables and fields on the server and then you use PHP codes to put or delete data inside the the databases.

PHP orders to work with Database:

-----------------------------------------------
Connecting to a database :

To connect the stream to a database we need two PHP orders :

mysql_connect and mysql_select_db

The form of these orders are in the following :

connection variable = mysql_connect( "Host name" , "Username" , "password");
mysql_select_db("database name" , connection variable);

For example :

Code:
$myconn = mysql_connect( "localhost" , "root" , ""); // When you use WAMP as sever your host would be "localhost" and the username for localhost is "root" and there's no password for it. This line of code would connect the stream to the localhost server , and assign "$myconn" variable to this connection.

mysql_select_db("mydb2",$myconn); // This line of code would connect the stream to "mydb2" database on the localhost server through "myconn" variable.

This code connects your stream to "mydb2" database on yourown computer.

-----------------------------------------------
Inject queries in to the database:

To order to your databases you can use This PHP order :

mysql_query (a string variable contains mysql query);

An example is in the following

-----------------------------------------------
Insert data in to a database :

This SQL query adds data in to your mysql :

INSERT INTO TableName (FieldName1,FieldName2,...) VALUES ('value for field1','value for field2',...)

For example :
Open your phpmyadmin and create a database with this features :

name : dabase2
tables : just one table "users" cotains three fields username , password , joindate.

Now after connection add these codes :

code :
$entered_usr = "Thomas";
$entered_pass = "secret";
$Today = date("Ymd");
$salt = "qw";
$entered_pass = crypt($entered_pass,$salt); // this order hashes the password so it can't be hacked easilly.
$sql = "INSERT INTO users (username,password,joindate) VALUES ('$entered_usr','$entered_pass','$Today')"; // this is our query to insert the data in to the table "users" .
mysql_query($sql); // this order sends the query in to the database to be acted.

-----------------------------------------------
Searching a database (extract data from database) :
The Query is :

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE Field_name = 'Value_for_the_field'

Let's describe this part by an example :
If we want to find the password corresponds to a username we can use the following codes.

code:
$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username='$entered_usr' "; // this query select from "users" table the enteries that have username equals to '$entered_usr'.
$search_result = mysql_query($sql); // the result of the query is saved in "$search_result" variable
$password = mysql_result($search_result,0,1); // here the password is extracted from data. more explanation in the following.

The search result format is :

mysql_result($search_result,result index,Field index)

result index : that begins from zero. Here it should be zero because we should have just one result.
Field index : that begins from zero . for example it's zero for "username" and one for "password" field.

-----------------------------------------------
How to count the results of a search :
there are two way to search the number of results :

1. Direct counting

For Example : these codes count the number of results of an entered username and if there is any result for it , it shows a message that the entered username's already existed in the database and the user should choose an other username.

code :
$entered_usr = "James"; // it's just an example it can be replaced by a text box.
$Sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE username='$entered_usr' "; // this query counts the number of rows in the database that contain the entered username.
$Result = mysql_query($Sql) or die(mysql_error() . " SQL: " . $Sql); // the result of this query is just a number that would be put in "$Result" variable.
if(mysql_result($Result, 0) > 0 ){
echo "username's already existed";
}

2. Count After "SELECT" order

$Total_number_of_Results = mysql_num_rows($search_result); // it counts the number of results that are exracted from the database.

-----------------------------------------------
Update the entered data in a database
For example these codes change the password of a user to a new password in the "users" table.

code:
$sql = "UPDATE users SET password = '$new_entered_password' WHERE username = '$entered_usr' "; // "users" is the table name
mysql_query($sql);

The first page of a forum

2011-02-03T22:55:00.000-08:00

Index page (first page) in a forum just contains a bunch of links that redirect the user to different forum topics but if we want just registered users can see the posts in the topics so we should add some php for this purpose.(http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/02/redirect-user-to-login-page-sessions.html)

These are the pure codes (without format) that I have written for the first page of a forum.(put them in a file and rename it to "index.php")
You can see a sample of these codes online here :
http://story-world.99k.org/
http://vahid9224two.zxq.net/index.php

code:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION["auth_usr"])){
echo "<a href=\"logout.php\">log out</a>";
}else{
echo "<a href=\"login.php\">log in</a>";
$_SESSION["d"] = "index.php";
}
?>
 place of menu bar
 
 // some explanation about my website.
Our website is place to find codes and sources of Flash Mx , PHP , MYSQL and website templates
to help you develope your skills.
Here, You can upload your interesting works and codes to help other friends development and show your
abilities to the others.
Please read our policy and copywrite rules about the things that you can upload.
 
 
// some links to different topics on the forum.
<a href="main_flash.php">FLASH MX and FLA FILES</a>
 
<a href="main_web.php">PHP , MYSQL CODES and WEBSITE DESIGN MATERIALS</a>
 
<a href="about.php">ABOUT US and CONTACT</a>
 
<a href="search.php">Search</a>
 

When this page is loaded if user hasn't login yet , the link of "log in" would be shown , otherwise , the link of "log out" would appear and the index page address is saved in a session in order to be used if the user click on login link.(to redirect the user to the index page once again after login) :

$_SESSION["d"] = "index.php";

There is a point about echo order here :

echo "<a href=\"logout.php\">log out</a>";

We want to show this HTML codes by echo order :

<a href="logout.php">log out</a>

But " is a special character for echo and to echo it you should use \" instead.

If you changed this codes with Frontpage to make it beautiful , don't forget to uploud the hidden files (that are created by Frontpage) to the server unless many of the objects such as menu bar would not be shown by the server.

Redirect the user to Login page , SESSIONs

2011-02-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

Index page (first page) in a forum just contains a bunch of links that redirect the user to different forum topics but if we want just registered users can see the posts inside the topics so we should add some php codes for this purpose.
To add authority property to the website we use SESSION.

SESSION :
In the simplest language , SESSION is an array (variable) that is defined right after a page loaded and its value remains valid untill the user shut that internet page. The name of this array is : $_SESSION["element"].

You can put any parameter inside of this array and use it to transfer data from one page to an other page of your own website.

To begin work with SESSIONs you should know two points:

1. You should start SESSION before use it.You can start SESSION by the following order:

Code:
session_start();

2. SESSION is a kind of header for the web page , and all of the headers should be sent before any output on the page.

for example This code:

Any HTML Code i.e.
 name 
<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION["auth_usr"] = "a";
?>

Will cause an error , because we have some output before session. Headers should be the first lines of the codes in a file.

MAKE THE USERS TO SIGN up

By the following codes if your user wants to see a page the server will redirect him/her to a login page and after login or signup , it will redirect the user to the requested page.

Put these codes in a file and rename the file to "auth.inc" (the suffix can be anything).

code:
<?php
session_start(); //start the session
error_reporting( 0); // this order prevent server to make any error (remove it when you are programing your website to see the errors)
if(!isset($_SESSION["auth_usr"])){ // "auth_usr" is an element name of session array that you will define it in login file to show that the user has logged in correctly , here You check if this parameter has been assigned or not. "isset" checks if $_SESSION has any elements with the name of "auth_usr". $_SESSION["d"] = $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]; // $_SERVER is a global array that is produced automatically by the server and you just use one of its elements here : $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]. This element contains the address of the current page. Here you put the address of the current page in a session to redirect the user to this page again after login.
header("Location: login.php"); // this order (header) changes the address bar to the Location , Here it redirects the user to Login page.
exit; // this order stops all of the process in the current page so the browser can go to the Location.
}
?>

Now add the following codes to the top of all the files that need authority.

code:
<?php
include "auth.inc"; // "include" order adds the total contain of the file in front of it (auth.inc) to the top of the current file.
?>

Infact we add all the codes above to all files (that need authority) just by "include" order.
If you add this code to your files , users are redirected to "login.php" to register or login before they can see their requested page.
To see how to make login page you can go to the post about login page in the current blog.

Some good HTML tags to know

2011-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

As I said in the previouse post (http://webprogram4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-design-php-website-by-help-of.html) we don't need to deal with HTML directly , but it's good to know some of the HTML tags.

<html> codes </html>
this tag shows the begin and end of the html codes.
-------------------------------------------
 
the browser jumps to the next line when it reaches to this tag.
------------------------------------------
<a href="an other web page"> the text to become link </a>
This tag shows a hyperlink for example:
<a href="main.php"> first page </a>
By this code , the browser shows the words "first page" as a link and if the user click on it the browser will redirect the address bar to "main.php" page.
-----------------------------------------
<img border="border of the image" src="the location of an image file(it can be a location on the web)" width="width of image" height="hight of image on the screen">
This tag shows an image on the screen , for example:
<img border="0" src="images_1/Image1509.jpg" width="120" height="160">
This code shows Image1509.jpg file from image_1 folder on the server.
-----------------------------------------

How to Design a PHP website by the help of Frontpage

2011-01-31T13:07:00.001-08:00

The easiest way to design a pretty website and not to deal with HTML tags is using Dreamweaver or Frontpage softwares . But these softwares are really weak to work with databases and professional security codes , to deal with these objectives , you can use a combination of PHP and Frontpage (or Dreamweaver).

This is my solution :
you make the website design and beauty by Frontpage and make the login and database access pages by php. But if a page needs both of beauty and php codes at the same time , add the html codes of the frontpage to php file , the browser interpret HTML codes when reach to them and the php codes effect would be send directly from the server to the browser.

For example:
This is the codes of index1.php , the HTML codes has been written by Frontpage and then I added the HTML codes to the this file:

Code:
-------------------------------------------------------
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION["auth_usr"])){
echo "<a href=\"logout.php\">log out</a>";
}else{
echo "<a href=\"login.php\">log in</a>";
$_SESSION["d"] = "page1.php";
}
?>
<html dir="rtl">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>Page1</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#CCFF99">

<marquee>welcome</marquee>

 
<div style="position: absolute; width: 972px; height: 28px; z-index: 1; right: 155px; top: 102px; border-style: solid; border-color: #009900; background-color: #009900" id="layer1">
<a href="page1.php">
main page</a>                         
<a href="my_games.php">
my games</a>                           
<a href="my_photos.php">
my photos
</a>                            
<a href="my_musics.php">
my music</a>                                  
<a href="about_me.php">
about me</a></div>

 
vahid

<img border="0" src="images_1/Image1509.jpg" width="120" height="160">
 
<a href="page1.php">main page</a>
<a href="my_games.php">my games</a>
<a href="my_photos.php">my photos</a>
<a href="my_musics.php">my musics</a>
<a href="about_me.php">about me</a> 
thanks to visit my webpage please spend some moments and send
me your valuable views about the website
</body>
</html>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can copy these codes in a php file and see the result:

As you can see all of the objects are on their place and the page is well arranged.I have done these things in Frontpage but at last I added the php codes to show the " LOG IN " sign , on the screen. So we escape from design by Frontpage software and we program our pages with php.
If a page didn't contain any php codes then you can just use Frontpage to design it and however to have more security I recommend you to add some php codes to all of the pages and change their suffix to php.
If you change php codes with Frontpage to make it beautiful , don't forget to uploud the hidden files (that are created by Frontpage) to the server unless many of the objects such as menu bar would not be shown by the server.

First step to write PHP code

2011-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

The first step to develop PHP codes is to have the appropriate program to compile it.
Apache is PHP compiler , but instalation of Apache is a really difficult work for beginners.

Have this Word from ME :
The best way of doing a work is the easiest way.

The easiest way to begin php is WAMP. WAMP is a program that is involved Apache (php compiler) and PHP Myadmin - a page to create data bases ( "virtualy on your computer").

After instalation of WAMP your computer would be a server that you can put your PHP or HTML codes in the folder " /wamp/www " (or something look like this name). and your browser will show the page of the codes , if you type its address in the address bar.

You can download WAMP by a search on the internet.

After wamp instalation (run wamp from the start menu) you can see the wamp icon at right-bottom of the screen:

if you click on the wamp icon you can see controls for your server.

For example you can go directly to www folder (it contains the files that you write php and html codes).
Or you can stop some of the services. For example if you stop Apache , your php codes will not be compiled by your computer.

The web page files should be PHP or HTML.
PHP files have the suffix of ".php" and you can write your codes by a simple text editor look like "NOTEPAD" .

For example put the following code in a php file.
code:
the date is
<?php echo date('j F y');
echo"your name"; ?>

Now put this file in your /WWW folder.To show the result open your browser and type this address in the address bar:
http://localhost/file name.php
Localhost means that the file is done by the local server.
This code will show "the date" and "your name".
RESULT:

the date is 27 January 11your name

The order of "echo" is used to print a text or result on the screen.