I am rewriting my web site in php to take advantage of mySQL. Currently, I am trying to take the contents of a text field (like the kind one types in to make a post on this board) of a form and save it to an entry in my SQL database. However, being new to php and all, I don't exactly know how to accomplish this. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

It's fairly simple. CGI-like behavior means that scripts and the server exchange data (that's the short version). In PHP, there are global arrays, called superglobals, which hold user input via HTML forms. By specifying in the HTML form "action:" field a PHP script which is ready to use data in a superglobal, the server fills the array(s) with form data when the submit request is sent. In this way, the script is executed and gets immediate access to the user's input.

Using MySQL involves opening a connection (which means loging in to mysqld, the database server), filling in an SQL query with some data from the HTML form, and submiting it to mysqld. Of course, you should have a table already setup to be filled.

Try Google for "php html form input" and maybe through mysql in there too. The PHP online manual at php.net covers things like superglobals and mysql functions. This topic is covered extensively in most books about PHP as well.