How can the "INSERT INTO" command be effectively used in PHP to insert data into a MySQL database?

To effectively use the "INSERT INTO" command in PHP to insert data into a MySQL database, you need to establish a database connection, construct an SQL query with the necessary data values, and execute the query using a function like mysqli_query().

<?php

// Establish a connection to the MySQL database
$connection = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Check connection
if ($connection === false) {
    die("Error: Could not connect. " . mysqli_connect_error());
}

// Construct SQL query to insert data into a table
$sql = "INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3) VALUES ('value1', 'value2', 'value3')";

// Execute the query
if (mysqli_query($connection, $sql)) {
    echo "Data inserted successfully.";
} else {
    echo "Error: Could not execute $sql. " . mysqli_error($connection);
}

// Close the connection
mysqli_close($connection);

?>