PHP/MySQL user login

[DarrenPWS]

I have recently started in website design (my site is http://www.positive-websolutions.co.uk) - and I would like to add a user login script using PHP and MySQL - I have no idea where to start really, and the website tutorials that i have found are all pretty useless. All I need is a page with the username and password to be logged in, and a page where the user can access their personal information about their website's performance, but this must be fairly secure - can anyone help by pointing me in the right direction???

Thanks in advance,
all comments appreciated,
Darren Darkins

[cyanide]

Hi Darren,

I would suggest you pop into www.hotscripts.com

password systems
user management

some of these scripts are free and some are paid

[compusolver]

Darren,

While the temptation is often there to quickly just plug something in that'll work, in the long run its probably better to take some time to understand the principles behind the code.

I'd recommend a book like "MySQL/PHP Database Applications" by M & T Books, or "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Sams.

These'll quickly have your authenticated login pages working and you'll understand the code behind them, enabling you to alter the app as needed and more quickly track down those nasty programming bugs.

You know that once you've got that login working you're not going to stop there - you'll want more and more features and these books or ones like them will help you with all those projects.

What's more, with the understanding you'll get from a decent manual, those online scripts will become much more useful and usable to you.

You've begun an excellent adventure. Good luck and enjoy!

[freddieb]

Just finished reading "PHP, MySQL & Apache" by Samms. It gave me an excellent understanding of the three and even has a CD with sample scripts, etc. Highly recommended.

[Adamwlad]

Hi Darren, I had the same problem a few months ago but I searched online and found great help. Yes http://www.hotscripts.com is good but also you can look at http://www.phpbuilder.com or http://www.devarticles.com I hope this helps.

-Adam