Create a Site Counter Using PHP & MySQL

Ever wanted to create a simple hit counter for your site, but never had the chance to code it yourself? Then, you may simple use the code below — all hard coded by me, royalty-free. The code is used to teach non-techie people how to create PHP-MySQL-driven websites.

<?php
// connect to the MySQL server using 'localhost' as the server name, cPanel username & password
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","cpanelusername","password");

// check if the connection is established or not

if (!$con)  
   {
      die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());

   }

// continue with the database processes if the connection is successful

else
   {

      // select the database you wish to connect to
      mysql_select_db("ctrdbase", $con);

      // go to the last record in your database table, this will also be the last number
      $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM counter_table ORDER BY ctr DESC LIMIT 1");
      $row = mysql_fetch_array($result);

      // store the last record to a variable
      $cctr = $row['ctr'];

      // declare a new variable that will do the addition thing
      $nctr = $cctr + 1;

      // store the updated counter to the database
      $sql = "INSERT INTO counter_table (ctr) VALUES ($nctr)";
      $dbupdate = mysql_query($sql);

      echo $nctr;
   }

mysql_close($con);
?>