REVISED; need INSERT help

hello again and i am sorry i was not more specififc in my last post. here is where i am confused:

 else                                                         {                                                                    $today = date("Y-m-d h:m:s");
        $sql = "INSERT INTO ads ("") VALUES
                ('$first_name','$last_name','$email','$phone','$univ_status',
                 '$password','$today')";
        mysql_query($sql);
        $auth="yes";                                                 $logname = $email;

for the actual insert, what do i put in order to avoid having to do a separate .php for each form and list the fields/values from each form? thanks and sorry again. addison previous post: hello, can someone help me with this? i have tried all i know and i am very new at this... my apologies. i am trying to have multiple forms, all with different fields/values, point to one .php that will foreach($HTTP_POST_VARS as $key => $VALUE) 1) check for if ($value == "") 2) ereg function 3) $$key = strip_tags(trim($value)); 4) $today = date("yyyy-m-d"); 5) $sql = "INSERT INTO tablename ("$HTTP_POST_VARS) VALUES ('$$HTTP_POST_VARS values')"; mysql_query($sql); the problem i am having is i have so many different form fields/values. i am almost resigning to having one .php for each form but i know there is a better way. and... anyway... thanks for looking at this. best regards, addison -- Addison Ellis small independent publishing co. 114 B 29th Avenue North Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 321-1791 addison@bellsouth.net info@smipco.com subsidiaries of small independent publishing co. info@gloabaldog.com info@momandpocentral.com