php newbie! help...

[Anon]

hello.

i'm having some difficulty with my site. I'm new to php, and i'm attempting to teach myself. Anyway here is a list of my problems (i think):

1. On my "Insert New Story" Page, i have a drop down menu that doesn't want to read the information in my database. It's supposed to pull down a list of pages that the user (who's been authenticated) can post too.

2. User login is not working, it spits back an error (header has been included already) when i attempt to login.
   Now the real issue here is that I can enter the correct passwords, and nothing will happen. all i get are errors.

3. On the "publish story" page, a user can only edit pages. Deleting/Publishing isn't possible.

the URL to view the site is:

www.counteractive.net/headlines.php

i can supply all the code i use, and more if your willing to help!

i appreciate assistance!

matthew kosoy

[junebug]

first of all, you need to include some code and error messages that people can look at to help you find your errors. we can't tell you what's wrong without being able to see it.

now, the header error message has to do with the fact that you are trying to send a header after you have started to send output to the browser. this could be from trying to set a cookie or using the header() function after printing something to the browser.

[matthew19]

Ok. i'm going to include the code for my user authentication. the usernames and passwords are stored in a (mySQL)table called "writers"
--------***
<?php

include "include_fns.php";
include "header.php";

if ( (!$username) || (!$password) ) {
print "<h2>You must enter your username and password to proceed</h2>";
exit;
}

if (login($username, $password)) {
$auth_user = $username;
session_register("auth_user");
header("Location: $HTTP_REFERER");
}
else {
print "<h2>The password you entered is incorrect</h2>";
exit;
}

?>
---***

i include the following: 'include_fns.php'
which actually contains 3 includes inside of that. the following is include_fns.php:

---***
<?

include_once("db_fns.php");
include_once("user_auth_fns.php");
include_once("select_fns.php");

session_start();
?>
---***

and here is the code for "user_auth_fns.php"
which is where i believe i'm getting my error, or one of the errors.
---***
<?
function login($username, $password)
// check username and password with db
// if yes, return true
// else return false
{
// connect to db
$conn = db_connect();
if (!$conn)
return 0;

$result = mysql_query("select * from writers
where username='$username'
and password = password('$password')");
if (!$result)
return 0;

if (mysql_num_rows($result)>0)
return 1;
else
return 0;
}

function check_auth_user()
{
global $auth_user;
if ( (session_is_registered("auth_user")) && (isset($auth_user)) )
return true;
else
return false;
}

?>
---***

This is everything i'm using for user authentication, thus far. I'm not sure, but what i believe is that i'm starting a session once, but not maintaining that same session. I'm not sure if it terminates, or what. Anyway any help is greatly appreciated!

thanks

matthew koosy