How to get the latest entries from a mysql database?

So the problem is this:

I want to create a table( used a javascript library to create a client side one) which launches recent articles, most viewed, top rated.

Now, how to arrange data in the database so that I get information from it in that way?

Should i use for example a timestamp data type to get the recent items added on the database, if so how to do that?

 

during table creation use timestamp field that have default now()