Turning a single string into a list of separate links - php

Question

I have a field called links that accepts a list of URLs separated by a comma, e.g. 'www.bbc.co.uk, www.itv.co.uk'
When I then output the contents of the field, I wrap it in code like this:
<li><a href='http://<?php echo htmlout($name['links']); ?>'><?php echo htmlout($name['links']); ?></a></li>
This works fine when a single link is added but when there is more then one, then it causes problems.
If for instance I have two links, one is www.bbc.co.uk and one is www.itv.co.uk and then I hover over the link (it is a single link of instead of two), it shows as:
http://www.ts.co.uk%2C%20www.bbc.co.uk/
Now I'm thinking that because they are separated by commas, there may be some way to use this as a hook to split the URLs up but I am not sure if this is possible.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks
EDIT BELOW
Added some code below as I already have an array. Can I have an array within an array? Should I in this case? Where should I drop the suggested code in?
INDEX.PHP (Controller)
include $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/includes/db.inc.php';
try
{
$sql = "SELECT player.id, player.name AS name, age, position, height, weight, GROUP_CONCAT(distinct previousclubs.name) previousclubs,
satscore, gpa, GROUP_CONCAT(distinct link) link, email
FROM player INNER JOIN playerpreviousclubs
ON player.id = playerid
INNER JOIN previousclubs
ON previousclubid = previousclubs.id
INNER JOIN links
ON links.playerid = player.id
WHERE email = '$username'";
$result = $pdo->query($sql);
}
catch (PDOException $e)
{
$error = 'Error fetching details: ' . $e->getMessage();
include 'error.html.php';
exit();
}
foreach ($result as $row)
{
$names[] = array(
'id' => $row['id'],
'name' => $row['name'],
'age' => $row['age'],
'position' => $row['position'],
'height' => $row['height'],
'weight' => $row['weight'],
'previousclubs' => $row['previousclubs'],
'satscore' => $row['satscore'],
'gpa' => $row['gpa'],
'links' => $row['link'],
'email' => $row['email']
);
}
include 'profiles.html.php';
And my template looks like this currently:
PROFILES.HTML.PHP
<p>Welcome <?php echo $row['name'] ?> . Below are your profile details:</p>
<?php foreach ($names as $name): ?>
<form action="" method="post">
<ol>
<li class="listleft">Name:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['name']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Age:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['age']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Position:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['position']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Height:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['height']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Weight:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['weight']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Previous Clubs:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['previousclubs']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">GPA:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['satscore']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">SAT Score:</li>
<li><?php echo htmlout($name['gpa']); ?></li>
<li class="listleft">Links:</li>
<li><a href='http://<?php echo htmlout($name['links']); ?>'><?php echo htmlout($name['links']); ?></a></li>
</ol>
</form>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Answer 1

$links = explode(',', $links);
foreach($links as $link) {
echo '<li>'.$link.'</li>';
}

Answer 2

You'll need to explode them, then loop through them.
$links = explode(',', $name['links']);
Then in your view:
foreach ($links as $link) {
echo '<li>'.$link.'</li>';
}

Answer 3

You can easily split string using explode function:
// split string by comma, returns array
$linksArray = explode(',', $links);
foreach($linksArray as $link) {
echo $link; // print each link etc
}

Answer 4

You'd be better to explode the string into an array, then loop around the array to output the data. Personally, I find arrays much easier to work with than a string. For example:
$links = explode(',', $links);
foreach($links as $link) {
?>
<li><?php echo htmlout($link); ?></li>
<?php
}