Data not being inserted into database - php

Question

My code seems to be functioning properly (i dont get any erros) but the INSERT INTO query doesnt seem to be working as the data is never being put into the database.
Here is the code:
EDIT: i edited the code slightly so it would make logical sense but it still doesn't add the data to the table. (I even removed the if statement completely and just left the query in and it didnt add it.)
<?php
//connect to user database
include("db_connect.php");
//set variables
$firstName = $_POST['firstName'];
$lastName = $_POST['lastName'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$password = $_POST['password'];
$gender = $_POST['gender'];
$date = date('Y/m/d H:i:s a');
//check if email exists
$db_query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email LIKE '$email'";
$db_result = mysql_query($db_query);
if(!$db_result)
{
$query = "INSERT INTO users (lastName, firstName, email, password, gender, signup) VALUES ('$lastName', '$firstName', '$email', '$password', '$gender', '$date')";
mysql_query($query);
echo 'You have been successfully registered. Please Click Here to log in.';
}
else {
echo 'That email is already in use. Click Here to return to the sign up page.';
}
?>

Answer 1

You need to replace
if($email_taken)
with
if(mysql_num_rows($email_taken))

Answer 2

I would say it would be more like:
//check if email exists
$db_query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email='{$email}'";
$res = mysql_query($db_query);
$email_taken = mysql_num_rows($res);
if($email_taken == 1)
{
echo 'That email is already in use. Click Here to return to the sign up page.';
}
else {
$query = "INSERT INTO users (lastName, firstName, email, password, gender, signup) VALUES ('$lastName', '$firstName', '$email', '$password', '$gender', '$date')";
mysql_query($query);
echo 'You have been successfully registered. Please Click Here to log in.';
}