Username and Password Setup

[Anon]

Hi all!

I am new to PHP and I am trying to learn it by reading books, etc. whilst trying to relate it to a website that I want to set up.

The website I wish to set up is a reunion type website, where people add themselves to the database for others to view.

I understand how to set this up as a database and then how to retrieve and display this information within a webpage but there is a big question mark over how I restrict users accessing these pages.

Ideally, I would like users to be denied access to every page if they are not registered users. So, the user would not be able to get past the home page if they have not got a username and password. This homepage would include a link so they can register though, so to gain access. The website would then know the user is logged in and it would then display all the pages for them at their request. I do not want a login screen to pop up as I'd rather have just a normal login page with text fields built into the html page.

However, I am unsure how to set this up. I have looked in my books and on the web but I have yet to find a decent example that I can relate my website to. Also, the examples I have found on the topic have been over my head, and I really need something easy to follow and understand.

So, firstly, can anyone offer me any help as to what I need to do or secondly, can anyone refer me to a web resource, etc. that could explain it to me?

Hope someone can help.

Thanks in anticipation.

Bobski

[khaine]

You could try using sessions. Have the login age create a session with a variable in it say $val_user then at the top of every page check to see if the variable is set. It makes creating a logout script easy too. just unset the variable and destroy the session and the user is logged out.