How do I output the last 5? I assume this is how I go about showing the most recent entries, right?

Assuming you setup the id field correctly, using auto_increment attribute, you can sort the data by id, in descending order and limit the output (say, again, to the last 5). Using a statement like the following (replacing the satement on the 5th line in the example):

"SELECT * FROM article ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 0,5"

You can also sort by the timestamp field and yield the same results, as long as it is setup correctly.

I'll also try to figure out how to list entries from specific dates, so I can create archives

I'll start you out with a way to list entries from specific date ranges, as follows:

SELECT * FROM article WHERE timestamp >= 20021101000000 AND timestamp < 20021201000000;

This would return all records with a timestamp in the month of November.

If you need more information about the MySQL functions, this is a good place to start.

Hope that helps...Have fun.