Here are code samples to generate random number and strings in PHP.
Generate random numbers between 1 and 1000
$num = rand(1,1000);
Using mtrand() function for better random number generation
$num = mt_rand(1,1000);
Generate a unique combination of numbers and letters. Works with PHP5 and higher.
$unique = uniqid();
Using md5() and uniqid() function to make the string more complex. md5() function generates 32 character long string. uniqid() works only with PHP5 or higher.
$md5_unique = md5(uniqid());
Generate random string from a given string. Randomly shuffling a given string.
$string = "Mukesh Chapagain";
$randomString = str_shuffle($string);
Generate random number using time() function. The number changes every second. This returns the current unix timestamp.
$time = time();
Hope it helps.
Thanks.