my friend, you are calling the variables from the database 2 lines before u try update them at [code] <?php //include("connect_to_db.php"); //$query = "SELECT * FROM journal_publications where id=$id"; //$result = mysql_query($query); //ifset($edit); //$result = mysql_query($query); $id=mysql_query("select id from journal_publications where id=$edit"); $authors=mysql_query("select authors from journal_publications where id=$edit"); $title=mysql_query("select title from journal_publications where id=$edit"); $state=mysql_query("select state from journal_publications where id=$edit"); $place=mysql_query("select place from journal_publications where id=$edit"); $userfile=mysql_query("select userfile from journal_publications where id=$edit"); if($_POST['submit']) { $sql = mysql_query("update journal_publications set authors='$authors' ,title='$title', state='$state', place='$place', userfile='$userfile' where id='$edit'"); //echo "$sql"; $result = mysql_query($sql); [/code] try changing the variables in the query from lets say $authors to $_POST[authors] and it should work...