What potential pitfalls should be considered when implementing a tag system for images using PHP and a database?

One potential pitfall when implementing a tag system for images using PHP and a database is the risk of duplicate tags being created, leading to inconsistencies and confusion in the tagging system. To prevent this, you can check if a tag already exists in the database before inserting it.

// Check if tag already exists in the database
$tag = "example_tag";
$query = "SELECT * FROM tags WHERE tag_name = '$tag'";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

if(mysqli_num_rows($result) == 0) {
    // Tag does not exist, insert into database
    $insert_query = "INSERT INTO tags (tag_name) VALUES ('$tag')";
    mysqli_query($connection, $insert_query);
} else {
    // Tag already exists, do not insert
    echo "Tag already exists in the database.";
}