how to use readmore.php?id=1 to display spacific info on another page php mysql

Question

Sorry if my Title is crappy but I've looked everywhere and i just don't know how to do this.

OK. what i want to do is display information from a specific id from a table row.

first page

employees.php

<?php

require 'header.php';

require 'connect.php';

$sql1 = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM employees ORDER BY id ASC");
while($runrows = mysql_fetch_array($sql1)){

    $employename = $runrows["employename"];
    $minidescription = $runrows["minidescription"];
    $bigdescription = $runrows["bigdescription"];

echo "

    <!-- Employe Profile Start -->
        <div class='ProfileWrap'>
            <section class='Profile'>
                <div class='HeadShot'>
                    <div class='Separator'></div>
                    <img width='90' height='136' alt='Employe Headshot' class='EmployeImage' src=img/headshots/".$runrows['images'] ." />
                    <div class='EmployeInfo'>
                        <legend class='EmployeName'>
                            <b>
                                Employe Name: $employename
                            </b>
                        </legend>
                        <div class='EmployeDes'>
                            <p>
                                Employe Descript $minidescription...
                            </p>
                        </div>
                        <a href='readmore.php?id=" .$id = $runrows["id"]. "' id='demo' alt='Read More'>
                            <div class='ReadMore'>
                                <b>
                                    Read More
                                </b>
                            </div>
                        </a>
                    </div>
                </div>
            </section>
        </div>
    <!-- employe Profile End -->

";

} // close while loop
?>
<?php require 'footer.php'; ?>

second page

employe.php

<?php
    require 'header.php';

    require 'connect.php';

echo "<a href='index.php'>Back</a>";

    $sql2 = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM employees WHERE id=$id");
    while($runrows = mysql_fetch_array($sql2)){

    $id = $runrows["id"];
    $employename = $runrows["employename"];
    $minidescription = $runrows["minidescription"];
    $bigdescription = $runrows["bigdescription"];

    echo "
        <legend class='EmployeName'>
        <b>
            Employe Name: $employename
        </b>
        </legend>
        <div class='EmployeDes'>
        <p>
            Employe Description: $bigdescription...
        </p>
        </div>
    ";
    };

    require 'footer.php';
?>

and you would click

[Read More]

then it would go to another page called readmore.php

"Click" [Read More] -> readmore.php?id=14 -> display specific info from that id from the database.

username

minidescription

->

click [Read More]

then it would show up like readmore.php?id=14 in the small address bar at the
bottom left

->

new page

->

largedescription

i want to be able to click on an item in a site that has a read more button and have it take me to another page where it displays the description info for that specific id

yes i realize I'm a complete newbie but I'm still learning and that was a crappy example of what i want to accomplish but i hope you understand what I'm trying to do none the less.

sorry if this already exists but I've looked everywhere and couldn't find what i was looking for. If someone has a link to share that can do what I've asked this question can just be deleted.

Thanks in Advance! hope someone can help me figure this out.

Answer 1

First, note @Matthew Johnson's answer about using Mysqli or PDO. Here are a few code specifics, though. When you generate the link to the page, you need this:

<a href='readmore.php?id=" . $runrows["id"] . "' id='demo' alt='Read More'>

Using $id = $runrows["id"] doesn't place the value into the url, it simply declares the value of the $id variable.

Then in your readmore.php file, the id can be capture from the URL using the $_GET array:

if (isset($_GET['id'])) {
    $id = $_GET['id'];
}

Answer 2

The mysql_* functions are deprecated, and should no longer be used. Mysqli or PDO should be used, along with prepared statements. The code as you have it is susceptible to sql injection attacks. A simplified version of what you're trying to do would look something like this:

To Link:

//this gets all the name and mini, loops through and displays....
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT id, employename, minidescription FROM employees"); 
$stmt->execute();  
$stmt->bind_result($id, $employeename, $minidescription); 
while($stmt->fetch()) {
    echo "<p><a href='readmore.php?id=$id'>$employeename</a>: $minidescription</p>";
}

The Read More:

//make sure it's set, if so assign it...
$id = (isset($_GET['id']) ? $_GET['id'] : "";

//this gets the info using the id variable from the URL...
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT employename, minidescription, bigdescription FROM employees WHERE id = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id); 
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->bind_result($employeename, $minidescription, $bigdescription); 
$stmt->fetch();

echo "$employeename: $bigdescription";

Using mysqli and prepared statements, as shown here, protects you against bobby tables and sql injection attacks. You can learn more about mysqli from the manual. Here's a tutorial with a quick run through of how prepared statements work.

Edit: The code above still needs a database connection. The warning of an undefined variable is saying that the $mysqli variable hasn't been defined. The fatal error is due to the fact that the prepare statement failed. To create a connection, it would look similar to this:

define("HOST", "Host URL"); 
define("USER", "dbUser"); 
define("PASSWORD", "password");
define("DATABASE", "databaseName"); 

$mysqli = new mysqli(HOST, USER, PASSWORD, DATABASE);

This would replace the code in your connect.php.