struggling to make this mysql insert work

[shawnhbk]

why when i hit submit nothing happens and i get no errors i been stock on this for a whole two days take a look at http://www.screwcops.com/?id=copstories&copstories=post

<?
// Conver to simple variables
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];

if((!$username) || (!$password)){
    echo "Login info invalid! <br />";
  ;
    exit();
}

// check if the user info validates the db
$sql0 = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM author WHERE username='$username' AND password='$password' AND activated='1'");
$login_check = mysql_num_rows($sql0);
if($login_check > 0){
    while($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql0)){
    foreach( $row AS $key => $val ){
        $$key = stripslashes( $val );
    }
         mysql_query("UPDATE author SET last_login=now() WHERE id='$id'");

?>


<?


// Define post fields into simple variables

$location = $_POST['location'];

$date = $_POST['year'] . $_POST['month'] . $_POST['day']; 

$amount = $_POST['amount'];

$title = $_POST['title'];

$shortstory = $_POST['shortstory'];

$fullstory = $_POST['fullstory'];

$location = $_POST['location'];




/* Let's strip some slashes in case the user entered

any escaped characters. */



$location = stripslashes($location);

$date = stripslashes($date);

$amount = stripslashes($amount);

$title = stripslashes($title);

$shortstory = stripslashes($shortstory);

$fullstory = stripslashes($fullstory);

$location = stripslashes($location);




if ($location == "") {

   $formErr .= "- Location<br>";



}

if ($title == "") {

   $formErr .= "- Title<br>";

}  

if ($shortstory == "") {

   $formErr .= "- Short Story<br>";

}  if ($fullstory == "") {

   $formErr .= "- Full Story<br>";

}  if ($location == "") {

   $formErr .= "- Location<br>";
}  


if ($formErr) {

   echo (' Sorry, the following fields contained invalid data or were left blank:<br> <style type="text/css">

<!--

.formerrors {

font-family: "Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif";

 font-size: 13px;

}

-->

</style><span class="formerrors">') . $formErr;

}

echo('</span>');

include ("$siteurl/includes/copstories/post.txt"); // Show the form again!

exit();  // exit the script so that we do not create this account!



echo('</span>');



// Enter info into the Database.

if


{$see = $sql = mysql_query("INSERT INTO stories (id, location, date, amount, title, shortstory, fullstory, location)".

   "VALUES ('NULL', '$first', '$location', '$date', '$amount' , '$title', '$shortstory', '$fullstory', '$location')")

    or die (mysql_error()); 







 $userid = mysql_insert_id();

// Let's mail the user!

//Change all text below to what YOU want

$subject = "Your $sitename account";

$message = "Dear $first $last,

Thank you for registering at $sitename!
You are one step away from logging in.
To activate your account,
please click here: 
$siteurl?id=register&register=activate&userid=$userid&code=$randomcode
Once you activate your account, you will be able to login
with the following information:
Username: $username
Password: $password

Thanks!
Adam Ziolkowski

   ";



mail($email, $subject, $message,

//Make sure to alter the from fields

    "From: [e-mail]");

echo 'Your account information has been mailed to your email address!

Please check it and follow the directions!';

} else {



echo 'Your account culd not be created!';

}

?> 


<?    }
} else {
    echo "You could not be logged in! Either the username and password do not match or you have not validated your account!<br />
    Please try again!<br />";
    include("$siteurl/includes/registartion/login.txt");
}
?> 

[ednark]

first thing i notice right off the bat

VALUES ( 'NULL', '$first', '$location',

im assuming your tables uses an auto-incrementing int column for Id, which accepts the value NULL not the string 'NULL'

VALUES ( NULL, '$first', '$location',

try and see if that fixes it

[Paranormalcy]

It doesnt look like you are connecting to any database.

You will need something like this in your code to initiate a connection to the db you are trying to write to.

<?php
$db = mysql_connect('localhost', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($db);
?>