?can I do "todays date" minus statusdt as age ?
You can do that with DATEDIFF()
mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF(NOW(),'2016-01-01');
+------------------------------+
| DATEDIFF(NOW(),'2016-01-01') |
+------------------------------+
| 46 |
+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
Another way you could get the same thing is with DATE_SUB()
If you want the date 3 days before today you find it like this.
mysql> select date_sub(now(), interval 3 day);
+---------------------------------+
| date_sub(now(), interval 3 day) |
+---------------------------------+
| 2016-02-13 07:34:30 |
+---------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.17 sec)
So your form could submit "How many days old is your status" and just submit a number (e.g. 3). and your query filters on
... WHERE statusdt > date_sub(now(), interval 3 day);
Good luck,
Barry.