Custom Log-in page for .htaccess

[Anon]

I have been trying to figure out for weeks how to pass user name and password information to the server.

I have .htaccess protected directories, and I want to be able to create a custom log-in page that will redirect users to their respective protected directories, and pass the log-in information onto the server so they don't have to enter the information twice. This seems like a simple enough concept right?

The only thing I have found is this...

http://username:[e-mail]

which puts the username and password in plain view in the URL. Does anybody know how to pass the information to the server without placing the password in the url?

Thank you!

[Anon]

Check out the PHP manual... PHP has a built in 401 authorization. Here's a link to the page all about it.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.http-auth.php
Hope that helps!!