My script isn't reading and inserting the value of a cookie correctly...

Coke

I'm coding my own message boards and I've hit a snag. I'm trying to code the script that will allow the user to start a new topic. One of the fields in the "topics" table is the name of the author, and the info to be put into that field is the info stored in a cookie known as "character".

Everything else about the script works correctly except for this. The author field is just empty, I get no errors... nothing.

Here are the variables:

$forum = $_GET['id'];
$type = $_GET['type'];
$character = $_COOKIE['character'];

Those variables are then put into hidden input fields to be taken to the second part of the script that will only run once the form is filled out. The structure of these input tags are:

<input type="hidden" name="author" value="<?php print "$character"; ?>" />
				<input type="hidden" name="type" value="<?php print "$type"; ?>" />
				<input type="hidden" name="forum" value="<?php print "$forum"; ?>" />

The second time my script is run, I make variables based on the POST'd input:

$title = $_POST['title'];
$content = $_POST['content'];
$type = $_POST['type'];
$forum = $_POST['forum'];
$author = $_POST['author'];

And lastly, this is the query I'm trying to run:

$query = "INSERT INTO topics (id,title,forum,author,replies,lastpost,icon,created,content) VALUES (0,'$title','$forum','$author',0,NOW(),'$type',NOW(),'$content')";

As I said before, everything BUT the author field is being filled as it is supposed to. I have also noticed that if I reduce the URL from "new.php?id=1&type=ooc" to simply "new.php" I can PRINT out the cookie's variable, so something is being stored there. However, the script isn't running correctly that method either.

Thanks in advance!

void_function

From the code you posted I can't see what would be wrong. What comes to mind is this:

How did you set the cookie?
Was there a reload of the page between setting the cookie and reading it? (after setting, the page must be reloaded)
How is your script handling both GET and POST data, is there a clash?

And, if I may suggest (sorry if you did it, but posted without it for simplicity):

ALL GET or POST data should be checked for existence, for example:

$value= isset($_GET['value']) ? $_GET['value'] : "";

Same goes for post. This is for security reasons. Your script may be called only as a result of a form (and will consequently get valid POST and GET data). But what if someone calls your .php script without posting the values? Or, posting only partial values because he wants to hack, but doesn't know all values you'r receiving?