Mostly, I don't understand the "SELECT COUNT * AS *" stuff for mysql. This is what I have for recognizing older post pages:

if(isset($_GET['page'])){
$id = $_GET['page'];
$query  = " SELECT page_title, page_text FROM page LIMIT 5,$id " . " ORDER BY id DESC "; 
}

and this is what i have to display pages on the front page

else{

//get the information...
$query  = " SELECT id, title, text, date FROM blogpost " . " ORDER BY date DESC " .
"LIMIT 5";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die('Error, query failed');

//DISPLAY THE POSTS with the newest one on top, hopefully.

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
echo "<div id='post' class='post'><div id='title'<b><a href='index.php?id={$row['id']}'>{$row['title']}</a></b> | {$row['date']} </div><br>" .
         "{$row['text']} <br><br>" .
     "</div>";
}

I read php-mysql-tutorial.com, but I don't understand the code for paging at all.

Let me recommend my code posted at http://www.webmaster-talk.com/php-fo...l-results.html . It uses MySQLi instead of the MySQL interface, but it should be a good guide to get you on your way.