guys please please help im totally stuck my head is spinning

Hi there! I think you're doing pretty well here. You obviously cleared task 1 without a problem. But there are a few things going on with task 2 and I know it can probably feel a bit overwhelming. First, the function is supposed to take an optional parameter. We make a parameter optional by simply giving it a default value in the definition of the function.

Secondly, your SQL statement is just fine. However, it says what the sql statement should be if the $filter is set. But you never say what it should be if the filter is not set.

Third, you then hard-code the SQL statement to be run instead of using the $sql variable that you built which should take into account if the $filter was set or not. So at this point, no matter what, it's going to show the results as if it were unfiltered.

We want to prepare our $results by using a prepare method and sending in the appropriate $sql string.

Take a look:

<?php
function get_people($filter = null) {  // optional parameter set to not filter by default
    include 'connection.php';

    //add code here
  $sql = 'SELECT * FROM people ORDER BY last_name DESC';  // the default SQL statement to be run

  if($filter){
   $sql = 'SELECT * FROM people WHERE treehouse = 1 ORDER BY last_name DESC';  //The SQL statement to be run if we want it filters
  }

try {
       $results = $db->prepare($sql);  //prepare our results variable using the filtered/unfiltered SQL statement as appropriate
       $results->execute();  // execute the preparation
// everything below, you did just fine!
  } catch(Exception $e) {
        echo "Error: Unable to retrieve query. " . $e->getMessage();
  }

     return $results->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

}

I hope this helps, but let me know if you need more clarification!

ooh i realised where i had made a mistake thanks a milli...