How to check if a link has been clicked? JS/PHP

Hi all,

I have a link in my php file here:

piece of file1.php :

<a href="file2.php">Add this to DB</a>

HTML:

This takes me to a page where the data gets inserted into my database.

file2.php :

<?php
// data gets inserted

header("Location: file1.php");
?>

PHP:

Then it gets redirected back to file1.php
But when the user gets back to file1.php, he/she can click the link again. So he can insert the data a millions times into the DB. But I don't want that. I want to disable the link.
I thought that JavaScript is the right language for this, but I don't know how.

Is there any way to do this.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

Cookies can be used server-side to disable the link by either completely removing it or change its function.

 

PHP will do that for you not Javascript..

you can use sessions and/or cookies..

file1.php

<?php 
// this should be on the top of the page 
  session_start(); ?>
.....
<?php 
// check if is_clicked exists
if(!isset($_SESSION['is_clicked']) || !isset($_COOKIE['is_clicked'])){ ?>
<a href="file2.php">Add this to DB</a>
<?php } ?>

PHP:

file2.php

<?php 
// this should be on the top of the page 
  session_start(); 

// do the data insert here...

$_SESSION['is_clicked'] = 1;
seetcookie('is_clicked', 1);
header("Location: file1.php");
?>

PHP:

this is just a quick fix for your question..
but if you use user login, you can save that value in the database because cookies and sessions do expire..