[jfk1]

hello again, i'm back!
i am sure there are a number of ppl here who can solve this problem for me, if i can just attract their attention for a few mins. i am half way through my second year of vbull license, and still dont have a working forum. this must be a record!
i am member of vbulletin (obviously), vbulletin.org, vbadvanced, and vbulletinsetup, and somehow i can't seem to ask the right question.... to get the right answer. i will try a different tack here, again!
essentially, i want to "query the sql database". how hard can that be, u might ask? all over the world, vbull scripts must be "querying the database" a million times a second! the whole script "survives" on "querying the database". this is precisely why i have opted for vbull, BECAUSE it uses mysql! i am getting a little despondent, at this stage. i should by this time, be an expert in PHP, MYSQL, and any number of programming langs!
ok, enough of waffle.
why does this not work?

$get_forumid = $db->query("SELECT forumid FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "forum WHERE title LIKE '$getpage'");

where $get_forumid is a new $var that i want to create, $getpage is a preset $var, which i want to submit (compare) to the db, and the result (returned value of $get_forumid) i want to use here:

<a href="http://mysite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f="$get_forumid">