Insert Input values into database using PHP

In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to get values from the user using a text field, text area, and checkboxes and save the values in the database.

The following is a simple Pizza order form which asks for a customer’s name, address, and extra topics customer would like to have on his/her pizza.

Pizza ordering system

Create the Database

Let’s create a database called ‘pizzacorner’ for the sake of example.

Create a database

Add a table

Now create the table ‘orders’ with four columns for order id, customer name, delivery address, and extra pizza toppings customer would like to have.

Create Table Orders

You can use phpMyAdmin or MySQL console to create table ‘orders’.

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `orders`;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `orders` (
  `order_id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `customer` varchar(200) NOT NULL,
  `address` varchar(250) NOT NULL,
  `toppings` varchar(250) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`order_id`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM AUTO_INCREMENT=7 DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

The Table Structure

Define order_id as your primary key. Set it as auto_increment so you don’t have to add the value of order_id manually.

Create the WebForm

Create a new php file, and save it as ‘pizzaorder.php’.

Pizzaorder.php will have an html form which would take the order details from the user.

  <?php 
  if(!isset($_POST['submit'])){
  ?>
  <div id="Pizza_order">
    <h1>A simple Pizza Order Form</h1>
    <br/>
    <h3> Please enter customer's order</h3>

   <form action="pizzaorder_ac.php" method="post">
     <p>
     <label>Customer Name</label><br/>
     <input type="text" name="customer" size="30">
     </p>
     <p>
     <label>Address</label><br/>
     <textarea name="address" rows="4" cols="35"></textarea>
     </p>
     <p>
     <label>Pizza Toppings</label><br/>
     <input type="checkbox" name="toppings[]" value="Pepporoni"/> Pepperoni</br>
     <input type="checkbox" name="toppings[]" value="Sausage"/> Sausage</br>
     <input type="checkbox" name="toppings[]" value="BBQ Sauce"/> BBQ Sauce</br>
     <input type="checkbox" name="toppings[]" value="Mushrooms"/> Mushrooms</br>
     <input type="checkbox" name="toppings[]" value="Onions"/> Onions</br>
     </p>
     <p>
     <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Order Pizza">
     </p>

   </form>
 </div>

and the CSS

<style>
body{font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; color:#333; font-size:14px; 
            padding-left:100px;}
#book_form{padding:50px;}
label{display:inline-block; width:140px; }
.msg{border:1px solid #28d; background-color:#9bd4f5;padding:10px; width:400px;}
 input[type="submit"] {
  background: #28d;
  border-color: transparent;
  color: #fff;
  cursor: pointer;
  padding:7px;
  width:200px;
}

.login input[type="submit"]:hover {
  background: #17c;
}
</style>

The Form Layout

Create a new file ‘pizzaorder_ac.php’

<?php  
    $customerName = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($_POST['customer']));
    $customerAddress = htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($_POST['address']));
    $pizzaToppings = implode(", ",$_POST['toppings']);


    $conn = mysqli_connect("localhost","root","","pizzacorner");
    if(!$conn){
        echo "Error: Unable to connect to MySql";
        die();
    }

    $query = "insert into orders(customer, address, toppings) values('$customerName', '$customerAddress', '$pizzaToppings')";

    $result = mysqli_query($conn, $query) or die("Could not execute query");
    if($result){
    ?>
      <h1>Order Details</h1>

      <p class="msg"> Order has been added successfully!</p>
      <label>Customer's Name: </label><?php echo $customer_name; ?><br/>
      <label>Address: </label><?php echo $customer_addr; ?> <br/>
      <label>Extra Toppings:</label><?php echo $pizza_toppings; ?><br/>

strip_tags() and htmlspecialchars() are two built-in PHP methods use to sanitize the user’s input.

Order Detail View

The implode() is a built-in method that joins array elements and output as a string. Implode(string $glue, array $arr) takes “, “ and $pizzaToppings as input and returns a string where each array value is separated by a comma and space.

Once we have collected user input into variables, we use these to create a query to execute.
If everything is executed fine, the data will be entered into the database and a success message will be displayed. As you can see, the data has been added successfully.