You need to access column by index : if ( $nt = mysql_fetch_array($q)){ echo $nt[0]; } (Note `if` instead of `while` - it's not required, but your query returns at most 1 row, so no need for `while`). If you want to access column by name, change the query to use aliases: $q=mysql_query(" SELECT COUNT (*) AS total_number FROM menjava WHERE date_submitted >= DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 1 DAY)",$link2); // now you can if ( $nt = mysql_fetch_array($q)){ echo $nt["total_number"]; } Also, while debugging it makes sense to output errors if any : $q=mysql_query(....) or die(mysql_error());