PHP - Is There An Easier Way To Do This, If So How?

Hello, I'm new to PHP and I have come up with the following code for my navigation but I am sure there has to be an easier and more efficient way to do this. Someone please start me on the right path. Thanks
Code: [Select]
<?php 
//Get selected page/sub page
if (isset($_GET['page'])) {
$sel_page = $_GET['page'];
$sel_sub_page = '';
} elseif (isset($_GET['sub_page'])) {
$sel_page = '';
$sel_sub_page = $_GET['sub_page'];
      } else {
$sel_page = '';
$sel_sub_page = '';
}
?> Code: [Select]
<!--Begin Navigation-->
<ul>
<?php
//run the loop to get the page titles  
$query = "SELECT * FROM pages ORDER BY position ASC";
$page_set = mysql_query($query);
confirm_query($page_set);
while($page = mysql_fetch_array($page_set)){
echo '<li><a href="content.php?page=' . urlencode($page['id']) . '">' . $page['page_name'] . '</a></li>';
//run sub page query to see if the ul tag is needed
$query = "SELECT * FROM sub_pages WHERE page_id = {$page['id']} ORDER BY position ASC";
$sub_page_set = mysql_query($query);
confirm_query($sub_page_set); 
$sub_page = mysql_fetch_array($sub_page_set);
if ($sub_page !=''){
echo '<ul>';
}
//run the sub page loop again to display the sub page title
$query = "SELECT * FROM sub_pages WHERE page_id = {$page['id']} ORDER BY position ASC";
$sub_page_set = mysql_query($query);
confirm_query($sub_page_set); 
while($sub_page = mysql_fetch_array($sub_page_set)) {
echo '<li><a href="content.php?sub_page=' . urlencode($sub_page['id']) . '">' . $sub_page['page_name'] . '</a></li>';
}
//run the sub page loop for the last time to see if the end ul tag is needed
$query = "SELECT * FROM sub_pages WHERE page_id = {$page['id']} ORDER BY position ASC";
$sub_page_set = mysql_query($query);
confirm_query($sub_page_set); 
$sub_page = mysql_fetch_array($sub_page_set);
if ($sub_page !='') {
echo '</ul>';
}
}
?>
</ul>
<!--End Navigation-->

                    <?php

$result = "SELECT * FROM portfolio";
$result = mysql_query ($result) or die (mysql_error());

$i=0;
        
                    while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) 
{

if($i==0)
echo '<div class="portfolioPage">';

if($i==2)
    $divclass = 'portfolioProjectWrapper borderWhite';
else
    $divclass = 'portfolioProjectWrapper borderGray';


echo '
                    <div class="'.$divclass.'">
                        <a href="portfolioPage.html" class="image asyncImgLoad" title="img/'.$row['image290x290'].'"></a>
                        <p class="imageDesc">'.$row['image290x290_phot'].'</p>
                        <h3 class="title">'.$row['title'].'</h3>
                        <p class="subtitle">'.$row['subtitle'].'</p>
                        <p class="desc">
                        '.substr($row['description'], 0, 1200).' <a href="portfolioPage.html" class="commonLink">Read more</a>                        
                        </p>
                    </div>
                                       
                    ';
                    
                    if($i==2)
                     echo '</div>';
                     if(i==2)
                     $i=0;
                    else
                     $i++;
                    
                    }
                    
                    ?>


Please help me im backward at this been along time.

HI,
My code works but I was wondering if there's a simpler/cleaner way to code it ...

Code: [Select]
<?php
require_once('config.php');

// code to get data form database
mysql_select_db($database, $makeconnection);
$sql_get_categories = "
 SELECT * 
 FROM tbl_categories
 ORDER BY category_id ASC";
$get_categories = mysql_query($sql_get_categories, $makeconnection) or die(mysql_error());
$row_get_categories = mysql_fetch_assoc($get_categories);
$totalRows_get_categories = mysql_num_rows($get_categories);

// i named the 3 fields form the form in the HTML so i can update them into the tadabase
$category_1 = $_POST['category_1'];
$category_2 = $_POST['category_2'];
$category_3 = $_POST['category_3'];

//updating the databse
if (isset($_POST['submitted_categories'])&&($_POST['submitted_categories'] == "yes")) {
$register_query = "SELECT category_id FROM tbl_categories WHERE category_id='$category_id'";
 
mysql_select_db($database, $makeconnection);
$sql_modify1 = ("UPDATE `tbl_categories` SET `category_name` = '$category_1' WHERE `category_id` =1");
$sql_modify2 = ("UPDATE `tbl_categories` SET `category_name` = '$category_2' WHERE `category_id` =2");
$sql_modify3 = ("UPDATE `tbl_categories` SET `category_name` = '$category_3' WHERE `category_id` =3");

$Result1 = mysql_query($sql_modify1, $makeconnection) or die(mysql_error()); 
$Result2 = mysql_query($sql_modify2, $makeconnection) or die(mysql_error());
$Result3 = mysql_query($sql_modify3, $makeconnection) or die(mysql_error());
header ("Location: the-rest.php");
}
?>

here's the form in the html part

Code: [Select]
<!--CATEGORIES -->
<h2>Categories</h2>
<form action="" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" name="category-form" id="category-form">
<?php do { ?>
<h3><input class="user-form-input" id="category_<?php echo $row_get_categories['category_id'];?>" name="category_<?php echo $row_get_categories['category_id'];?>" type="text" value="<?php echo $row_get_categories['category_name'];?>" /></h3>
<?php } while ($row_get_categories = mysql_fetch_assoc($get_categories)); ?>
<input name="submitted_categories" type="hidden" id="submitted_categories" value="yes" />
<input name="submit" type="submit" class="button-save" id="submit" value="update categories"/>
</form>
<!--END OF CATEGORIES-->