PHP Pagination

Pagination is a technique used in web design to divide web pages or content into smaller sections or pages. It is used to improve the user experience and make content easily accessible to users. In this tutorial, we will learn how to implement pagination using PHP.

Syntax

The basic syntax of PHP pagination involves setting up the number of results per page and getting the total number of records from the database. We then use this information to calculate the number of pages needed and display the relevant content for each page.

//set the number of results per page
$results_per_page = 10;

//get the total number of records from the database
$total_records = //query to get total records count;

//calculate the number of pages needed
$number_of_pages = ceil($total_records / $results_per_page);

Example

Let's walk through an example of implementing pagination using PHP.

//set the number of results per page
$results_per_page = 5;

//get the current page number
$current_page = isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : 1;

//calculate the offset
$offset = ($current_page - 1) * $results_per_page;

//query to get total records count
$sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
$row = mysqli_fetch_row($result);
$total_records = $row[0];

//calculate the number of pages needed
$number_of_pages = ceil($total_records / $results_per_page);

//query to get records
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name LIMIT " . $offset . "," . $results_per_page;
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

//display records
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    //display record data
}

//display pagination links
for ($i=1; $i<=$number_of_pages; $i++) {
    echo "<a href='pagination.php?page=".$i."'>".$i."</a> ";
}

Output

The output of the example code will display the relevant records for the current page and pagination links at the bottom of the page.

Explanation

In the example code, we set the number of results per page to 5 and get the current page number from the URL parameter (using the GET method). We then calculate the offset (which will be used in the LIMIT clause of the SQL query) by subtracting 1 from the current page number and multiplying it by the number of results per page.

We then retrieve the total number of records from the database and calculate the number of pages needed by dividing the total records by the results per page and rounding up using the ceil() function.

Next, we query the database to get the relevant records for the current page using the LIMIT clause. We loop through the result set and display the relevant record data.

Finally, we display pagination links using a for loop that goes from 1 to the number of pages needed. We use the href attribute to pass the page number as a URL parameter and include the page number as the link text.

Use

Pagination is commonly used in web applications that display large amounts of data. By dividing the data into smaller sections or pages, the user can easily navigate and find the relevant information. This improves the user experience and makes the application more efficient.

Important Points

• Pagination involves dividing web pages or content into smaller sections or pages for improved user experience.
• Basic syntax of pagination involves setting the number of results per page and getting the total number of records from the database.
• Pagination can be implemented using PHP by calculating the number of pages needed, retrieving the relevant records from the database, and displaying the data and pagination links.
• Pagination is commonly used in web applications that display large amounts of data.

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned how to implement pagination using PHP. We covered the syntax, implementation, and use cases of pagination for improved user experience and efficient web applications.