MySQL Basics for Beginners: Tables, CRUD Queries and Connecting From PHP

Bookings, enquiries, products, blog posts: dynamic websites store data in a database, and MySQL (or its close relative MariaDB) is the most common choice on Indian hosting. These MySQL basics cover what you need to build real features.

Key terms

• Database: a container for your tables (e.g. taxi_site)
• Table: like a spreadsheet sheet (e.g. bookings)
• Row: one record (one booking)
• Column: one field (phone, pickup city)
• Primary key: a unique ID for each row

Create a table

CREATE TABLE bookings (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  phone VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL,
  pickup VARCHAR(100),
  drop_city VARCHAR(100),
  travel_date DATE,
  status ENUM('new','confirmed','cancelled') DEFAULT 'new',
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;

Use utf8mb4 so Hindi, Punjabi and emoji are stored correctly.

CRUD: Create, Read, Update, Delete

INSERT INTO bookings (name, phone, pickup, drop_city, travel_date)
VALUES ('Aman', '9876543210', 'Ludhiana', 'Delhi', '2026-11-05');

SELECT id, name, drop_city FROM bookings
WHERE status = 'new' ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 20;

UPDATE bookings SET status = 'confirmed' WHERE id = 15;

DELETE FROM bookings WHERE id = 15;

Always use WHERE with UPDATE and DELETE, or you'll change every row.

Indexes for speed

CREATE INDEX idx_status_created ON bookings (status, created_at);

Index columns you filter or sort by often. See database optimisation for PHP sites.

Connecting from PHP safely

<?php
$conn = new mysqli('localhost', 'db_user', 'db_pass', 'taxi_site');
$conn->set_charset('utf8mb4');

$stmt = $conn->prepare(
  "INSERT INTO bookings (name, phone, pickup, drop_city, travel_date) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)"
);
$stmt->bind_param('sssss', $name, $phone, $pickup, $drop, $date);
$stmt->execute();

Prepared statements keep user input separate from SQL and prevent SQL injection. See PHP security.

Reading rows:

<?php
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT name, drop_city FROM bookings WHERE status = ?");
$status = 'new';
$stmt->bind_param('s', $status);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    echo htmlspecialchars($row['name']) . ' → ' . htmlspecialchars($row['drop_city']) . '<br>';
}

phpMyAdmin

On most hosting panels, phpMyAdmin lets you browse tables, run queries, import and export. Export a backup before big changes. See how to back up a website.

Next step

Combine data from multiple tables with SQL JOINs.

FAQs

MySQL or MariaDB?

They're highly compatible for typical websites. Many hosts use MariaDB under the "MySQL" name.

Should I store images in the database?

Usually no. Store files on disk and save the file path in the database.