$show = "SELECT * FROM $table,users WHERE $table.username=users.username AND orderno='$_GETїnumber]'";
$showq = mysql_query($show, $db_conn) or die("query show failed".mysql_error());
$table can be 1 of 2 tables, so ignore that. The 3rd table would be "notes" and does not always have a matching entry. If i use a join like i have above it will not show any results in the case that "notes" has no matching entry.
$show = "SELECT * FROM $table LEFT JOIN users ON $table.username=users.username LEFT JOIN notes ON $table.orderno=notes.orderno WHERE $table.orderno='$_GET[number]'";
Seems to be working at the moment. Thanks for the tip.