I then use this code to get the data I need from the database:
$gallery = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_GET['gallery']);
$link = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_GET['link']);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM images WHERE link='".$link."'";
This all works fine and the page works as needed. As part of set up and testing I echo the $link variable to the page and it displays correctly as: surfers-beach-goers
And this is making the page stop working. No data is returned from the query when the page is accessed in this way and when I echo the $link variable it is shown as: surfers-beach-goers.php
So something, is causing the variable to have the .php extension on the end, and as there is no matching data the query returns nothing and so the page is not populated.
I’ll be honest, I have no idea where to even start looking so any advice would be great. Phrasing the issue into a google search to try and investigate has been difficult too.
You should never ever put variables in your queries. You need to use prepared statements. I would recommend you use PDO. Here is a good tutorial to get you going. https://phpdelusions.net/pdo
Also, you should explicitly specify the column names you want instead of using SELECT *.
Sometimes all that is needed is another pair of eyes, sometimes it’s your own eyes putting the code in a different context that makes the error jump out.
However when accessing via www.domain.com/galleryname/linkname the page works but the css and images links fail - they need to be changed to …/css etc to work as if the page is not at the root.
However the internal redirect is calling the page at the root, but the page is acting if its in a directory further down the structure.
Is this something i have done wrong in my htaccess or is this expected behaviour?
Modifying the htaccess file for application rewrites can tricky and become messy fairly quickly. On the next project I highly recommend rewriting everything to a single front end controller (ie. index.php) and handling routing within the application itself. Handing routing within the application itself is much more flexible. Furthermore, you could use a stand alone library like PHP leagues router to get you started on the right path. If you are part of school that is against frameworks (I’m not) but if you are PHP league as a lot of nice stand alone libs that can be used with composer for lower level but common application tasks like routing.
