How can beginners break down the process of creating a search field in PHP into manageable steps?

To create a search field in PHP, beginners can break down the process into manageable steps. First, they can start by creating a form with an input field for users to enter their search query. Next, they can use PHP to retrieve the search query from the form submission and process it to fetch relevant results from a database or other data source. Finally, they can display the search results on the page for the user to see.

<form method="GET" action="search.php">
    <input type="text" name="query" placeholder="Enter your search query">
    <button type="submit">Search</button>
</form>

<?php
if(isset($_GET['query'])) {
    $search_query = $_GET['query'];
    // Process the search query and fetch results from database
    // Display search results
}
?>