How To Create Pagination With PHP And MySQL?

Pagination is an SEO and design strategy. You can perform pagination with PHP and MySQL programming languages. Pagination is the practice of breaking up internet material into different pages. Links, typically located at the bottom of a page and take the form of numbers, can be clicked by visitors to move between various sites.

PHP

Scripting and programming languages like PHP find their use in building dynamic, interactive web pages. PHP is the scripting language used to create WordPress. Similar to WordPress, PHP is an open-source program. Because PHP is a server-side language, it operates on the web hosting server. 

MySQL

SQL stands for “Structured Query Language“. MySQL is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) named after its creator Michael Widenius’s daughter. Its initial release was in 1995. Oracle later purchased it in January 2010 when Sun Microsystems owned it. 

Establish Pagination In PHP And MySQL

To establish pagination in PHP and MySQL, follow the procedures below.

Establish A Page Limit

First, we must choose how many records to display on a single page. Make the limit to 10 people. Hence, a page will only show a maximum of 10 records.

Determine The Accurate Page Number

The next step is to have the correct page number after deciding on the page limit. We can obtain the current page number using the $_GET array variable’s ‘page‘ key. Thus I can use $_GET[‘page’] to get the page number here. After that, evaluate to determine the code’s correct page number. When there is no page number, the default page number setting should be 1.

Use PHP And MySQL To Calculate The Offset To Build A Pagination

The proper operation of paginations depends on offset. The starting point for the data displayed on a page is called offset. As the record starts with zero, like in arrays, it will be 0 for page 1. The offset will be 10 for Page 2 with a page limit of 10, and so on. The offset will also be 90 for page 10.      

Determine The Number Of Records In The Table Overall

You can determine the total number of records in a table. The MySQL count function allows us to determine the number of records in any table.

It is preferable to send the primary key column (unique data) as an argument to COUNT(). Since a table has many columns, some individuals use * instead of just one column, which could be more efficient. As a result, the query will take longer to execute because it counts all the columns rather than just one. The query text then passes to $query count, and the calculated result is put in the array $results count. 

Retrieve Records For The Active Page.

We must use offset and limit to fetch the records specific to that page to display the records on that page. These numbers have already been computed, and a maximum of 10 records from the current page’s records are fetched and placed in the $results variable.      

Count The Number Of Pages Distributed

There is mention of a term page distribution count. The records will divide into several pages when you create a pagination. Page distribution count is the total number of pages on which records will be disseminated.

Construct An Array Of Pagination Links

Linking to every page is a crucial step in the pagination process that PHP and MySQL used to build websites. It enables efficient page-to-page navigation and takes five values or indexes from this array. The pagination string will display Total, Current, From, and To. i.e., for aesthetic sake. 

• The word ” total ” denotes the total number of pages containing material.
• The word “current” refers to the current page.
• The “form” field displays the initial number of records on the current page.
• “to” displays the most recent record number on the active page.
• The term “pages” denotes the number of pages with dispersed records.

While creating the pagination links, it is advisable to disable and display the current page link differently.  

Use PHP And MySQL Pagination To Display Results

Lastly, provide the previously retrieved records in a user-friendly manner. Records must be shown one after another because the pagination aims to make data more user-friendly. Data representation in tabular form is a solid approach to accomplish this purpose. For results, create a loop, a two-column table row for each loop. After completing the data loop, a row with colspan=2 will produce a string to convey pagination information. Below this row will be the pagination links.

Finally, let’s put all the codes on a single page.

Get some designs for a suitable layout so that PHP and MySQL can construct pagination.