Ajax visit link without actually visiting link - php

Question

I've got a basic like button concept on my site that visits url.tld?action=love and adds +1 to the link's database column.
It's a hassle redirecting to another page all the time though. Is it possible to click the button, and send a request to the URL without actually redirecting to a new URL? Also maybe refresh the button afterwards only so that the count updates?
For a general idea of what my download button is this is in the header:
<?php require_once('phpcount.php'); ?>
<p class="hidden"><?php
$time = time();
for($i = 0; $i < 1; $i++)
{
PHPCount::AddHit("$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]", "127.0.0.1");
}
echo (time() - $time);
/*echo "PAGE1 NON: " . PHPCount::GetHits("page1") . "\nPAGE1 UNIQUE: " . PHPCount::GetHits("page1", true);
echo "\n\n" . PHPCount::GetHits("page2");
$ntot = PHPCount::GetTotalHits();
$utot = PHPcount::GetTotalHits(true);
echo "###$ntot!!!!$utot";*/?></p>
And this is an example of my "love" button.
Love <span class="count">'. PHPCount::GetHits("$package_get?action=love", true).'</span>
The reason I used this method is because people create pages, and I wanted the like button to work out of the box. When their page is first visited it adds their url to the database, and begins tallying unique hits.
This is basically adding a new link column called downloadlink?action=love, and tallying unique clicks.

Answer 1

use the following code. assgin id="btn_my_love" to that button and add this code to you page
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.3/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script>
//assign url to a variable
var my_url = <?php echo "https://alt.epicmc.us/download.php?link='.strip_tags($package_get).'?action=love"; ?>;
$(function(){
$("#btn_my_love").click(function(){
$.ajax({
url:my_url,
type:'GET',
success:function(data){
//comment the following result after testing
alert("Page visited");
},
error: function (request, status, error) {
alert(request.responseText);
}
});
//prevent button default action that is redirecting
return false;
});
});
</script>

Answer 2

Yes, it is possible. I am assuming you know what ajax is and how to use it, if not I am not going to give you the code because some simple reading on ajax as suggested by #Black0ut will show you how. But the basic steps are as follows:
Send ajax request to a PHP script that will update +1 vote to the database
In the PHP script, add +1 to the database and return some data to the ajax, maybe the new number of votes
Parse the return data in your JavaScript and update the button accordingly