Save HTML Form Data to a MySQL Database using PHP

[@dave-hollingworth]

What do you find most challenging about working with HTML forms and PHP?

[@judgeguilty]

Security on the client and server side.

[@realchicagophill]

You currently have a course on codeigniter 4 on Udemy. How comprehensive is that tutorial covering features of the framework? I might be interested in that one.

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@realchicagophill It's pretty comprehensive - you can access the course here: davehollingworth.net/codeignitery

[@realchicagophill]

@@dave-hollingworth I'm half way through it.

[@davidacq2026]

The question of how much input sanitization e.g. strip_tags( trim( $_POST['value'] ) ) would be advisable before validation, or rather not using any sanitization at all before input validation.

[@dryandave]

This channel deserved more than 8k+ subscribers , hopefully you will not get tired in continuing in sharing your knowledge with us Dave. Blessed you. more power. ❤

[@jchuillier]

Usually I need to watch 5 tutorials do be able to do something, you managed to make everything working well on the first try, many thanks for your help

[@someutubchannel69]

Dave is an amazing teacher and Masters PHP, I took one of His courses in Udemy and it was one of the best courses I have ever taken.

[@FriedrichBoettger]

I'm with you. His Beginner's PHP course was so simple even I understood it. Dave's a cut above most of the instructors on Udemy (though many are knowledgeable). He's got a great and measured speaking voice, knows his subject and takes his time explaining the subject.

[@rajashreejarande7907]

Thank you soooo much for this video. I was literally struggling to complete my project based on a similar concept. I referred to 10+ websites and other videos but i finally understood how to actually do this after watching your video. SO a big thank you. Please keep helping people

[@earlpatterson6404]

Hi Dave, I am new to PHP and have tried about a dozen different videos but could not get the data from my registration form to populate into my database. Your the first one that I had success. I also learned a lot while I was following along. I hope you decide to do a tutorial on designing a membership login system. Keep up the great work and I appreciate you taking the time to do this video.

[@dave-hollingworth]

I do have a signup and login system video already, that I hope to expand on soon with a "part 2": kzbin.info/www/bejne/a32chpuFo9qiqZI

[@yherair-jk5qh]

Thanks Dave I was able to understand and returned back in html, php & sql coding again.

[@emilym4441]

This video helped me so much! Thank You! I watched so many other videos trying to figure out this topic and you were the first to explain it well enough and show exactly how to complete the steps.

[@CodeLaniakea-tf5no]

Clear Explanation so I can follow your instruction with no error! Thankyou Dave

[@porshkabir2535]

Your content is a life saver. It's really difficult to find content where it takes you step by step process with a good explainaton. after tons searching I found this gold mine :)

[@antoniopango1841]

Thanks Dave! I'm really impressed how you lecture. You find the right time to explain a concept or parameter. Well done!

[@ianalfwani7638]

This is the simplest and best explained tutorial on PHP and SQL very very helpful Hollingworth.......... respect

[@sathvikthandra8592]

Saved my day, month ,semester

[@hakanyargici]

You deserve more subscriber!

[@osvaldoribeiro428]

Thank you ! Lots of information in less than half an hour. Saved my day!

[@ravichandrasangam1162]

Excellect video with minute details. Thanks so much for uploading this video. I am sure I will be watching more of your videos

[@thejoker8705]

We had a 1st gen Echo in our master bathroom for listening to music in the morning kzbin.infoUgkxABghAEkaIDGZfHRBH3D3rBrlraNmnC71 and while in the shower. I didn't realize how tinny and awful the sound output on the original Echo was until we replaced it with the Studio. It was a sonic upgrade far beyond what I was expecting. Just wow. I love it because it's like having speakers IN the shower. My friend likes it because the music is so loud that she can no longer hear me singing. So that's a win-win.

[@arminegilavyan952]

Thank you so much, had a dozen of tries , but no success, and here...my problems are solved any more!!!

[@Lowlandlilin]

Greatest video i've ever seen. You might just be a genius at the process of education

[@hinglemcdingleberry5511]

You are a great teacher my friend! Good moderate pace and very well explained.

[@novabunny663]

Hey, I just watched this video and this was quite helpful to me, Thanks Man. Im gonna check all your videos. Love you man. Your discription was way good and understandable.

[@FebryanIbadurrahman]

Thank you Dave! You helped me to understand the part that i dont understand to make my coursework :) I wish you everything good in life :)

[@craigc5879]

Funny was only thinking yesterday, we must be due for a video. Purchased three of your courses on Udemy and found them easy to learn to the point I am cutting code in a major work project

[@mathdothings]

This channel is awesome! Thanks for every content you do, I can see how much effort you expend to bring us truly good videos. I know this is beyond this video scope, I'm curious to know which distro you're generally using on your videos showcases?

[@dave-hollingworth]

I use Xubuntu 22.04 LTS

[@orlignegron1790]

Excellent video, the best explanation I've had, thank you.

[@TradingToolkit]

Amazing Tutorial, absolutely life saver!

[@demovso]

thank you so much for helping me. I'm a newbie in web development. looking a mentor. :) i will followed you and thank you so much. im from philippines.

[@mateuszmurak9965]

Exactly what I needed. Man, i owe you my college diploma

[@CumhurOzkaya]

Thanks for the lesson. But I have a question. In visual studio code, I am filling in the HTML and when I made read the php page on browser the table lines are given with the NULL result. I am trying for along time on this issue. Have you any idea about this is issue?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Try using var_dump to print out the contents of the variable that contains the database data, see if that contains null values.

[@akhileshkumar-iu9uq]

I have subscribed your api course from udemy

[@nadiasusanagallegos5680]

¡Gracias!

[@dave-hollingworth]

¡Gracias a tí!

[@imlittledoo6969]

is it possible to replace the "echo" at 23:40 with an html page (with css and stuff)?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Absolutely, just close the PHP with the closing tag ?> and start some HTML

[@Adhithya2003]

Superb video, you are calm and composed :)

[@kramerbua4306]

really excellent, noone could explain it better

[@nadergad8725]

Thank you very much seriously. Simple, focused, and powerful.

[@atharvambokar6187]

thank you for your wonderful explanation sir

[@kimmimiley900]

Thank you thank you thank you for all of these amazing videos about php!

[@dragunyt2727]

Very well explained and easy to follow, thanks.

[@romilpatel9968]

very detailed explanation helped alot thank you....

[@Mari_SMS]

Great job Sir 👏

[@monduli]

Great tutorial - thank you very much. You've got a new subscriber!

[@gensys244]

This is amazing clear nice speed and amazing as usual i really enjoy every one you do. Thank you for you work on these !

[@nazareno.marcelli]

Best Tutorial ever!

[@rayaneeeee]

you're a legend!! thanks a lot, sir.

[@raziehzabihiasrami9264]

Your explanation was excellent and sweet and understandable thanks

[@mojtabaheidari3170]

GREAT VIDEO😄😄😄

[@OpenFreeTechnologies]

its good precise and to the point

[@Divinetots]

this video saved me. thanks.

[@theobotchway834]

solid presentation, you the best. what editor did you use for tis video ?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Visual Studio Code, albeit with the interface simplified

[@RishirajDesigns]

Excellent teaching skills!

[@sixtusushahemba9419]

Great job, thank you!

[@vaseksrubar1199]

18:25 I need help. When I try to connect database to php it shows me fatal error: Call to undefine function mysqli_connect(). Can you help me please?

[@dave-hollingworth]

That happens if you don't have the MysQLi extension installed. Some solutions here: stackoverflow.com/questions/35424982/how-can-i-enable-the-mysqli-extension-in-php-7

[@ansaraliakash]

Thank you so much Dave! I'm really curious about security of php code as I'm new to it

[@WilCoYo]

Love the tutorial but it seems like there's a bit missing around having php downloaded and running and how that's vital for this to work. Currently one hour into trying to trouble shoot but no luck. Can't get the php file to show on a web browser

[@dave-hollingworth]

Try Xampp, www.apachefriends.org/

[@gypsyjesus4420]

@@dave-hollingworth why didn't you mentioned this before in the video?

[@farhadali593]

Amazing, Love you buddy!

[@fredxu2447]

Hey I have a question. Why when I submit the HTML form, rather than seeing the text at 11:30, I get shown a page of my PHP code? It just directs me to my PHP code and it doesn't submit anything to it

[@dave-hollingworth]

Are you opening the code in a web server (e.g. localhost/form.html) or are you opening the file directly? If you're seeing the PHP code, it could be that you don't have PHP installed, or that the filename doesn't end in .php

[@fredxu2447]

@@dave-hollingworth yeah I believe I was opening through a web server, and I'm pretty sure I downloaded PHP. drive.google.com/file/d/1ctUgHNkku3xMeU8Oae4Nqe6RTnOfr2l6/view I made a screen-recording of a simplified version of my code

[@fredxu2447]

Never mind, I moved the files to localhost. However, there is the same error drive.google.com/file/d/1WvBr6y8FdkGgA67JFvGCBXWjHlsA8kk-/view Same script as one above. Apache is turned on

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@fredxu2447 Thank you for the screen recording, that helps - you're opening the file using the browser as a file explorer (I wish browsers didn't do that!) - you need to open your file from the web server, so it would be localhost/createposttest.html But you'd have to put your files in the web server root folder (or change the web server's configuration so that the web server's root folder is the folder you already have your code in)

[@fredxu2447]

@@dave-hollingworth It worked! Thank you so much!

[@AmirKartik]

thanks you for the guide! is there a way to send everything done here to another PC and for it to work the same? including the DB configuration on phpmyadmin? how do i do that? if not what can i do to create a simple page with db to be able to send it to others and work the same as it works for me?

[@bigsmoke5930]

Thank you very much sir! God bless you

[@RajanSekhon]

Hi Dave, thanks for the video I was looking for. Everything else is working fine instead the records are not inserting into message table and there is no error showing in code or error log. Connection to the database was successful.

[@dave-hollingworth]

Try using the mysqli_error function just after the code is insterted, and temporarily comment out the line that redirects so you can see the error. Documentation is here: www.php.net/manual/en/mysqli.error.php

[@aloalo-ss5vl]

Legendary tutorial

[@user-ww7yz3mk4w]

thank you ! helpful

[@micheldenostredame408]

This is stuff that i could buy :)

[@BenjaminDeMesmaeker]

Hi Dave. I am still a bit new to coding but was wondering if it is possible to add a button: "take photo". Can a picture then be taken and added to the mysql database or does this option not exist?

[@dave-hollingworth]

You can do this with JavaScript in the browser, e.g. usefulangle.com/post/352/javascript-capture-image-from-camera To save it, you'd have to upload it to the server. You don't usually store binary files like images in a MySQL database, what you'd do is upload the file to a folder on the server, and store the filename in the database instead.

[@xanzerex1926]

Very nice video you are an absolute help for me 🤠

[@anthonyplanos1580]

what shortcut did you use to automatically adjust the indentation in vscode?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Highlight the text you want to indent, press tab (or shift-tab to reduce the indentation)

[@yashashreeprabhukhanolkar3277]

thank you so much☺

[@thomasmv6440]

Thank u Dave, good

[@guodalaurinaviciute487]

Great video

[@rixochixo]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :D

[@cheeksmcclappeth6407]

This video is very insightful. Thank you! I ran into trouble when I clicked the button to submit the form. Instead of displaying an array, the PHP code is displayed. I moved the files to the root folder for XAMPP, and received a similar error (error 405, "this page isn't working") until I typed in localhost/[directory]. Hope this helps people with a similar issue.

[@melo7572]

Whenever I try submitting the form (10:44) with VSCode it takes me to the php page with a 405 error... "This page isn’t working. If the problem continues, contact the site owner. HTTP ERROR 405" Using Github Pages it gives me a "405 Not Allowed" error

[@dave-hollingworth]

This would seem to be a problem with the VSCode built-in server - have you tried it with a locally-installed web server?

[@melo7572]

@@dave-hollingworth No. What locally-installed web server should I try? Would XAMPP work? Also, what web host provider should I use to publish the website on its own domain, that supports PHP?

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@melo7572 XAMPP is what I would recommend for Windows and Linux, MAMP for Mac. For live hosting, I recommend this: davehollingworth.net/hosting

[@buwiesit2813]

Hello! ive been wondering where can you access phpmylogin because I can't find that certain web. Do I need to download it?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Yes, you need to install it - if you're using XAMPP, it's included

[@reeissu]

Hey there Dave, I have a slight problem with the code, I've used the data from github and made my files they same way you did, but my problem is that whenever I submit the form it shows me the code of the php file, do you have a fix for this problem? thank you.

[@dave-hollingworth]

If you're seeing the PHP code, it's likely that you're opening the file using the web browser as a file manager, and not in a web server - you need to have a web server installed and the URL (the address in the browser's address bar) needs to be something like localhost/process-form.php (and not something like C:\files\form.html)

[@reeissu]

@@dave-hollingworth Thanks, is there a tutorial on how I can install a web server?

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@reeissu I recommend XAMPP - you can download it from here: www.apachefriends.org/

[@reeissu]

@@dave-hollingworth thank you, I've downloaded the program, do you have an idea on what I should do next?

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@reeissu Follow the installation instructions for your OS. Then you should get an application running where you can start Apache running. Then put your PHP file in the web root folder (the application will tell you which folder this is - usually called "htdocs" inside the XAMPP installation folder). Files in this folder are available at localhost/

[@fredericoamigo]

Brilliant video! I am trying to learn how to do this I JavaScript. For some reason I find this easier to do in php.. If you by chance know about a good resource that teaches how to do this I JavaScript also I would appreciate that:-) In the meantime, I’ll stick with this in php:-)

[@tabmax22]

17:38 what do we do if we are deploying for production on the internet?

[@dave-hollingworth]

You would have a specific MySQL user that had privileges for just that database. Often your hosting provider will give you these details automatically. More details here: www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-create-a-new-user-and-grant-permissions-in-mysql

[@edbull4891]

Great presentation. When an error is experienced, or the form was completed successfully how do you restart the form entry ?

[@dave-hollingworth]

In this example, you just go back in the browser. If you want to clear the form, you can refresh it by holding down the left shift key while pressing reload. In practice you'd probably have some client-side validation in JavaScript on the form, to make sure the form is valid when it's submitted. The server-side validation is just to make sure valid data doesn't get to the database.

[@anpvr]

Hai, I have a doubt, i have changed the mysql and apache server port numbers, I have printed the values in the aray but can't connect to localhost, need to add any additional codes because i have change the default port numbers

[@dave-hollingworth]

You can specify the MySQL port number as the fifth parameter to mysqli_connect: www.php.net/manual/en/mysqli.construct.php

[@Dean1991x]

Brilliant video! Is this possible to do but where the html form is stored in a shared drive and the database is Microsoft access? Any guidance on this would be amazing!

[@dave-hollingworth]

You can connect to an Access database using PHP, details here: www.infocaptor.com/microsoft-access-database-using-php-pdo-odbc-example Although you'd still need a web server to run the PHP code.

[@Dean1991x]

@@dave-hollingworth thanks! Maybe this could be your next video? Haha

[@callmejames1010]

first i'd like to convey words of appreciation for your impressive work. are u using visual studio to write the code or any recommendation for HTML,PHP texteditor? do i need to start the mysql server in my xampp before doing all this? or are you using xampp at all in the first place? your answer is greatly appreciated. thanks

[@dave-hollingworth]

I used Atom for the video, but this has been discontinued now. At the moment I recommend VSCode as an editor. Yes, you need to start the web server and the database server for this to work. I'm using (and recommend) XAMPP.

[@aloalo-ss5vl]

Thank you sir

[@joshuazaldana7681]

Hi Dave! When I submit the form, instead of being processed through the PHP file it just shows me the code from the process-form.php. I do have the method="post" in my form, so I really don't know what is going on. Could you please help me?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Please see this video: kzbin.infol7ERVQd7Ti8?feature=share

[@karimkaunda6733]

That is awesome Boss

[@Balaa0528]

Is it only works if you have a website? I mean can I do it in my pc only with vscode?

[@dave-hollingworth]

You need a web server in order for this to work. You can install one with XAMPP.

[@chibuzordesmond3937]

Was character binding originally introduced for security? There are easier ways to edit strings and I’m completely new to php [and web dev], kinda curious. Those methods do involve quotes, but the param binding still ends in quotes, so is there a real difference between it and the other string manipulation methods?

[@3101199]

Could you please make a video about how to show the stored data and be able to filter it? Thanks in advance

[@blinkoncebuddiesreveluv6961]

Hello, I would like to ask a question. I followed the scripting process while modifying the involved data files to fit my own database, however when I press the Send button in the HTML page it redirects me to a page with the php code in plain text and the data inputted isnt saved into the mysql database. Is there a way to solve this? Much appreciated in advance!

[@dave-hollingworth]

It sounds like you're opening the form as a file (in the web browser's address bar it looks like c:\folder\form.html) instead of from a web server - the address in the browser's address bar should be something like localhost/form.html - then when you submit it, the PHP will be executed. If you need a local web server, I recommend XAMPP

[@BrendanPennySA]

@@dave-hollingworth I made this same mistake, thank you for the resolution

[@ehm243]

but how can i take this to a web server? I have in my server on ubuntu the file.php and the index.html copied from your video and when I access the server with my phone and enter the message, on phpmyadmin I can't see nothing.

[@dave-hollingworth]

You need to upload the files to a web server, e.g. davehollingworth.com/go/hosting

[@sreevallis7751]

The data is entered in to php tables is it possible to insert into mysql tables.

[@phelipjdudeparcon6185]

sir based in your coding in line 4 of form.html and linn 39 of process-form.php you declare it $message while your table in database was body ? how come that those 2 are not same and yet they kind of know each other,...

[@dave-hollingworth]

$message is a variable in PHP, "body" is the name of the column in the database. These don't need to match, the value of the variable is assigned to the column when we bind values to the placeholders in the SQL

[@phelipjdudeparcon6185]

@@dave-hollingworth sir how a bout a tutorial ADD EDIT DELETE that include database for do you have any video for that ? i want to learn the basic of add edit delete. thank you

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@phelipjdudeparcon6185 I don't have a video about that yet, but it's on my list...

[@KnowledgePower-xg5ff]

I want to enroll to your course. But im really looking on how to extract data from mysql and display it to html. none of these tutorial here works on newer version of chrome browser.

[@dave-hollingworth]

I've tried it in Chrome and it works for me - what exactly is the problem you're having?

[@ashleymccoast8758]

Hi Dave, when I submit the form only the php code return on chrome, what could be the problem

[@dave-hollingworth]

Please watch this: kzbin.infol7ERVQd7Ti8?feature=share

[@systemloading45]

What software was used to write the html code and php? I'm a bit confused.

[@dave-hollingworth]

You need a code editor, which is basically a text editor. VSCode is free and does the job well.

[@systemloading45]

@@dave-hollingworth Thank you so much!

[@DavidThomas-mf3um]

Need help Dave! I get as far as creating the php file and entering the php opening tag and the print statement also putting the action and method attribute inside the form element on the html form doc. Then once inserting the php code in the new php file, I ran/debug the php file and no errors were returned. I input some data in my form and what was returned in my browser was the actual php code from my new php file? not sure what went wrong? I checked the syntax of the code against yours and see no errors. I'm confused! It's as if the form and the php file are not connected. Any help would be appreciated!

[@dave-hollingworth]

If you're seeing the PHP code in your browser, it's probable that you're opening the form.html file using your browser as a file browser, i.e. not requesting it from a web server. If the address in the browser's address bar is something like C:\files\form.html then this is the problem. The address should be something like localhost/form.html. To do this you need a locally-installed web server, and you need to put your files in the web server's root folder. If you don't have one, I recommend XAMPP.

[@DavidThomas-mf3um]

@@dave-hollingworth Thank you for your reply, I had downloaded previously the XAMPP local server but I hadn't saved my files in htdocs folder neither the form.html nor the php code in process-form.php. Even after I saved them both in a folder inside the htdocs folder I still had the similar issues. Finally, I had to pass the complete path of the php file in the action atribute and I had to separate the two files in differing folders . Not exactly sure why but now it returns the array each time. Thank you Thank you for your information. Can you advise me where is a good place to further our knowledge in this area. Especially the proper ways to secure the form and the transfer of data.

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@DavidThomas-mf3um I have a full PHP course here if you're interested: davehollingworth.net/phpy

[@dowhilltourismorganisation1979]

It is terrific

[@dotunn]

great video, however, im getting this error around 19:13 : Connection failed: Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO) any ideas?

[@dave-hollingworth]

It looks like there's a problem with the root account password - you can create a specific user for PHP to connect to the database instead, instructions here: stackoverflow.com/a/6454005/185553

[@dotunn]

@@dave-hollingworth Thanks so much Dave i'll give that a go. You train really well, very clear and straight to the point! New sub.

[@dotunn]

fixed it, it worked thank you. I was wondering, do you have any course on wordpress development, specifically how to transfer a web page into wordpress as this uses php heavily.

[@dave-hollingworth]

@@dotunn I no longer have any courses on WordPress development I'm afraid

[@bankoledada]

can you create a search function to pull from the database created via the html form? i am thinking this would be a php funtion

[@Un.imaginabl]

When I submit the form with information, I don't see any output on my screen. It's just a blank screen. Why would this happen? Is this because I'm on a Mac?

[@dave-hollingworth]

Please see this: kzbin.infoK4TMD0mLOJY?feature=share

[@dusabimanamartin5395]

Thank you sir now I can connect html form to database! The problem is that I can only see one record in the database after adding more

[@dave-hollingworth]

This could be for many reasons - try comparing your code to the code from the video (link in the description)

[@airus20005]

good vid, thank you

[@tonyg5132]

Can you please tell me why I can't even do the very beginning of this because my php files download instead of showing Array([Type]=> 1) I've been trying everything and I have no idea what is causing this.

[@dave-hollingworth]

Are you opening your files served from a web server or using the browser as a file explorer? If the address in the address bar of the browser is something like file:///Downloads/form.html then this is why - the address needs to be something like localhost/form.html. If you don't have a web server installed, I suggest XAMPP.