How can I add a column via Migration without having to drop the table?

Just create a migration file and do as they show here. It will just create the column. No need to drop anything. https://laravel.com/docs/5.5/migrations#creating-columns

I tried adding the column to the migration that I want updated and did:

php artisan migrate

It just outputs,

Nothing to migrate.

You're not supposed to add it to the old migration file. You need to create a new migration file, and then add the corresponding code:

// This gets the users table and adds an email column
Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('email');
});

Changes you make to the database should be a new migration file. If you come back in the future and want to alter a column or add another table, that needs to be another migration file. If you decide to drop a table because it's no longer needed, then that needs to be another migration file. Think of each migration as sort of like a snapshot of what your database looked like during that time.

From the docs:

Migrations are like version control for your database, allowing your team to easily modify and share the application's database schema. Migrations are typically paired with Laravel's schema builder to easily build your application's database schema. If you have ever had to tell a teammate to manually add a column to their local database schema, you've faced the problem that database migrations solve.

Ah, that clarifies everything. I'll go try it out.

That worked!

I have two questions.

1. In the migration file how can I make it so it adds the column after a specific column?

2. How should the down() function look like to remove the column?

EDIT: Nevermind, the documentation has everything I need. Thanks!