// leave this so we can assign a session key/value pair to the last number used, must go at top of page before any other output
session_start();

// create a range of numbers between x and x to use as the seed
$r = range(1,10);

// if the session var is set, use it otherwise use 1 OR whatever the low range value is above
$random = ($_SESSION['random']) ? $_SESSION['random'] : 1;

// search for the $random value and remove it so we don't use it again without using another value first
$key = array_search($random, $r);

// deleting the value from this page load only
unset($r[$key]);

// shuffling the array for sequential random behavior
shuffle($r);

// creating a session var from $r to use as the array pointer
$_SESSION['random'] = $r[0];

// we're just echoing the result here. it can also be assigned to a var
echo $_SESSION['random'];

If it's seeded, is it truly random?

I would think so as long as the number is random from the range it has to choose from and doesn't follow any specifically set patterns.

Of course it has to follow specifically set instructions. It's a computer program.

well ya lol, but as long as you don't set a specific pattern for the numbers to show up is what I mean. Yes it has to follow a pattern to get to the point of grabbing the number, but if there's no pattern for what number it's going to grab and subsequent choices of the number then it would be randomly chosen from a set array of numbers right?

@Jo Ann Thank you.

Where do you think I get the number for displaying my online visitors from??.. joking,..or not..no really joking...or am I, lol