Inserting Data to a Custom Table in WordPress | PHP Tutorial For Beginners

WordPress uses its own set of database tables, but during customization you may need to create your own table and insert data into it. WordPress provides the global $wpdb object for all database operations.

The example below inserts a row into a custom table named my_custom_table with id, name, and date columns.

<?php
global $wpdb;

// Register the custom table name on the $wpdb object
$wpdb->my_custom_table = 'my_custom_table';

$query = $wpdb->prepare("
    INSERT INTO $wpdb->my_custom_table
        (id, name, date)
    VALUES ('', 'Neel', '$date')
");

$results = $wpdb->query($query);
?>

How It Works

• global $wpdb — brings the WordPress database object into scope.
• $wpdb->my_custom_table = 'my_custom_table' — registers your table name as a property on $wpdb, respecting any WordPress table prefix automatically.
• $wpdb->prepare() — safely prepares the SQL statement (use %s, %d placeholders for actual variables to prevent SQL injection).
• $wpdb->query() — executes the query and returns the number of rows affected.

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