Individual contest entry recorded daily...possible?

stymie

Hello,
I am trying to set up a monthly contest. I have a MySQL database set up, and users will fill out a form once that has all the contact info we'll need. After that, they can sign up on a different form that allows them to just enter their email. User will be allowed to enter only once per day.
What I'm looking for is a way to log in the day they enter, and one count for that. Then if they tried using either form to enter again, the form would check the database and make sure they had not entered for that day. If so, they would be redirected to an error page explaining the 1 entry per day policy. However, if the date validated, it would count 1 in their individual counter.
Can Forms to Go aid in this, or do you have any suggestions on how to set this up.
Currently, I'm thinking of a php script that included the current date, and include that in a hidden field in the form. This would check against a row in the database that included the dates each hit was validated and recorded. If the date is not present, then it would validate and record as one hit.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

leatherback

I'd probably add a timestamp to the table in which you log entries. Then you can use the mysql timediff() function to see whether the time between the last timestamp and the current time() is more then 24 hours. If so: Allow entry, else don't.

stymie

Thanks leatherback,
Any suggestions on where to find more info on this?
stymie

leatherback

eehm.. In the php manual. You are just starting off with PhP? If you click through the coding tips belwo, you'll see some very basic examples in php coding.

I guess what I am saying is.. If you really want to build this yourself, you will need to learn some php/database stuff

stymie

I've been using PHP for about a year now, but I'm self taught, so I wouldn't call my knowledge as accurate as it could be, which is the reason I'm asking questions on the forum. It's a effort on my part to get the leads I need to figure this out.
I just started working w/ MySQL. I did have a web developer sit down and give me a crash course in the subject, so I understand the basics of how to create a database and use phpMyAdmin to CRUD it.
Currently, I just don't know all the functions available in MySQL, such as the timediff() function.
But as long as I can dig up the info in the PHP manual, I think I can handle it. But again, any suggestions you may have, I would greatly appreciate them, as I do appreciate the info you've already given me. Thank you.
Stymie

stymie

I checked your links. Sorry if I came off as a luser, I'm just on a major hang in a deadline crunch. Thanks for offering your expertise to us newbies, you guys are appreciated.
Thank you
Stymie