Hi kris, >my poor brain is thinking that i have to: > >1. insert into table_images >2. select image_id from table_images where image_name = image_name >3. update table_story > >in three separate database queries - which to me seems like a rather basic >and inelegant means of doing this. > >could someone point me in the right direction? Use mysql_insert_id() to get the id of the last inserted row. See: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-insert-id.php Bye, Edwin Martin.