

and it should be:$total = mysql_query("SELECT COUNT (`user_id`)
Who would have thought a space after COUNT could cause all that$total = mysql_query("SELECT COUNT(`user_id`)
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare user_exists() (previously declared in C:\xampp\htdocs\user_system\core\inc\user.inc.php:4) in C:\xampp\htdocs\user_system\core\inc\user.inc.php on line 27