How to get first page to equal 1 everytime - php

Question

Below I have a line of code where it states which Page a user is currently on out of the number of Total Pages.
<h1>CREATING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: SESSION (AAA) <?php echo $sessionMinus ?> OF <?php echo $_SESSION['initial_count'] ?></h1>
So for example the line could read this:
CREATING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: SESSION (AAA) 3 OF 3
Now the problem I have is that if the user is on the first page, it doesn't display the number 1. So instead of stating 1 OF 3 or 1 OF 5, it is stating 2 OF 3 or 2 OF 5.
So my question is that how can I get the first page to equal 1 OF ... when user accesses the first session (first page)?
Below is the current code:
if(isset($_POST['sessionNum'])){
//Declare my counter for the first time
$_SESSION['initial_count'] = $_POST['sessionNum'];
$_SESSION['sessionNum'] = $_POST['sessionNum'];
$_SESSION['sessionCount'] = 0;
}
else if ($_SESSION['sessionCount'] < $_SESSION['sessionNum']) {
$_SESSION['sessionCount']++;
}
$sessionMinus = $_SESSION['sessionCount'];
$_SESSION['sessionNum'] is the total number of Sessions. So if it is 3 OF 5, then $_SESSION['sessionNum'] is 5.

Answer 1

if you want to build something like "Wizards" then in sessions you would store some data to keep track of user activity and general process, you say "if the user is in the first session ..." that's confusing, better say "if the user is in first step"
say you want to store in sessions, "user is in step 1 of 3 total steps", you would need
$_SESSION["user_track"] = array(
("current") => 1,
("next")=>2,
("total") => 3,
("previous") => 0
);
and a IF to check on every step
if($_SESSION["user_track"]["next"] != $GLOBAL_STEP){
/*
$GLOBAL_STEP , a integer you defined in the current step say its 2
and users next step matches 2 then he/she is on the correct step
*/
}else if($_SESSION["user_track"]["next"] == $_SESSION["user_track"]["total"]){
/*At the ending step*/
}else{
// couldn't proceed to next step, something went wrong
}
hope it helps

Answer 2

I would suggest :
to use the word 'page' or 'steps' instead of 'session', because 'session' is confusing with the $_SESSION array.
to use a simple GET parameter for current page/step (e.g. yourpage.php?step=X), where by default the step value would be 1.