How to make a webpage retain variables from form? - php

Question

Sorry if I'm duplicating threads here, but I wasn't able to find an answer to this anywhere else on StackOverflow.
Basically what I'm trying to do is make a list in which variables entered in a form by a user can be kept. At the moment, I have the code which makes this possible, and functional, however the variables entered in the form only appear on the list after the user hits submit... As soon as I refresh the page or go to the page from somewhere else, the variables disappear. Is there any way I can stop this from happening?
Edit: here are the codes:
//Page 1
<?php
session_start();
$entries = array(
0 => $_POST['signup_username'],
1 => $_POST['signup_email'],
2 => $_POST['signup_city']);
$entries_unique = array_unique($entries);
$entries_unique_values = array_values($entries_unique);
echo "<a href='Page 2'>Link</a>";
$_SESSION['entries_unique_values'] = $entries_unique_values;
?>
//Page2
<?php
session_start();
$entries_unique_values = $_SESSION['entries_unique_values'];
foreach($entries_unique_values as $key => $value) {
$ValueReplace = $value;
echo "<br /><a href='http://example.com/members/?s=$ValueReplace'>" . $value . "</a><br/>";
}
?>

Answer 1

Your question is really quite vague. the answer depends on how much data you have to store, and fopr how long you need it to exsist.
By variable I assume you mean data the user has entered and that you want to put into a variable.
I also presume that the list of variables is created by php when the form is submitted.
Php will only create the variable list when the form is submitted as php is done entirely on the server, therefore you will not have or see the variables until the form is submitted.
if you wanted to be able to see the list as it is being created you could use javascript then once you have you php variables the javascript list isn't necesary.
each time you request a php page wheather it is the same one or not the server generates a totally new page, meaning all unhardcoded variables from previous pages will be lost unless you continually post the variables around the pages the server will have no memory of them.
You have a few viable options.
) keep passing the user created variables in POST or GET requests so each page has the necesary info to work with. Depending on the situation it might or might not be a good idea. If the data only needs to exsits for one or two pages then it is ok, but bad if you need the data to be accessable from any page on your web.
2.) start a session and store the variables in a session. Good if the data only needs to be around while the user is connected to the site. but will be lost if user close window or after a time.
3.) place a cookie. not a good idea but ok for simple data.
4.) create a mysql database and drop the variable info in there. great for permanent data. this is how i always complex user data.
just a few ideas for you to look into as it is difficult to see what you really mean. good luck.

Answer 2

use PHP session or store variable values in Cookies via JS or using PHP. It would be nice if you show your working codes :)

Answer 3

Your idea is fine, however you just need to add a little condition to your Page 1 that only set your SESSION values when POST is made, that way it will keep the values even if you refresh. Otherwise when you visit the page without a POST those values will be overwritten by blank values, which is what you are seeing now. You can modify it like
<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_POST["signup_username"]))
{
$entries = array(
0 => $_POST['signup_username'],
1 => $_POST['signup_email'],
2 => $_POST['signup_city']);
$entries_unique = array_unique($entries);
$entries_unique_values = array_values($entries_unique);
$_SESSION['entries_unique_values'] = $entries_unique_values;
}
echo "<a href='http://localhost/Calculator/form2.1.php'>Link</a>";
?>

Answer 4

You could use JavaScript and HTML5 local storage.