Creating a Login WebSite

[deva mx]

Hi-
I was hoping someone- who's been down this road- couldpoint me in the direction of a website/ tutorial that explains how to go about making a login web site?
For example if I was designing a web site for an artist and she/he wanted to make a specific section ofthe site off limits to children under 13 or 18? or whatever- or even better - a site that required a login for registered members? Maybe atutorial that explains how to process a formand will send an automatic email confirmation /password upon submitting a registration form? I would appreciate any direction on thistopic.

Thank you. Deva

Post Edited (deva mx) : 6/14/2004 2:32:52 PM GMT

[Kool]

Hi deva, welcome to the forum, I moved this thread from 'Off Topic' to the web section. Good luck on your question. I'm sure someone here knows how to do this.

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[Benjamin]

I've not actually done it yet but I believe there are several ways of doing this. If your server is Apache you can use the .htaccess file to require logins to specific files or directories. You store an encrypted list of names and passwords on the server too. Another way to do it is to use PHP and either use a 'session' or set a cookie. Some of the books on PHP should tell you in detail how to do this. I think there is a Wrox press one on MySQL, PHP and Apache which covers both methods (the .htaccess and PHP methods). I'm going to have to work out how to do this myself in the next few weeks so let us know if you do find any good tutorials on the web or whatever.

http://www.jackfruitdesign.com/
Om Namah Shivaya

[Big Perm-dizzle]

to add to this question.....

the company I just started with wants a login for each client separate area for each clients to view their project/proofs/and notes...

they also want a FTP portion of the site where customers could FTP graphics to us...

JUST LAUNCHED - www.hirethisdesigner.com (http://www.hirethisdesigner.com) - check it out

[Ryan8720]

For a simple password area like deva needs, I would use htaccess. You can use the explanation here (http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess3.shtml) to help.

For bigger logins, PHP/MySQL is best. Some tutorials:
http://www.free2code.net/tutorials/programming/php/4/phplogin.php
http://www.evolt.org/article/Creating_a_Login_Script_with_PHP_4/17/19661/

I'm not sure about the FTP at the moment. If you have somebody running your server I would talk to them.

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[ecsyle]

BIG PERM said...
to add to this question.....

the company I just started with wants a login for each client separate area for each clients to view their project/proofs/and notes...

they also want a FTP portion of the site where customers could FTP graphics to us.



Again, using sessions you could have a client login, and they would be able to view their files. You could use MySQL or similar to handle the data to make it easier to manage. You could use PHP to upload files as well. I don't think it would be that hard to do actually.

Or, if you have access to the server, just create a new account or something on the machine, then they will have their own home directory to FTP into to upload. They would have to know how to use an FTP client of course, and I wouldn't put much faith in the client to not have problems with it. You don;t want to have to support more than you have to. So, I highly recommend PHP to handle file uploads.

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[YellowDart]

I suggest mySQL and PHP too... I've never dealt with these before, but hope to learn them both soon. I've heard it's pretty easy to learn... moreso than asp or jsp. Anyway, if you'd like an easier way out, you could go with PostNuke or PHPNuke, but you'll end up with a cookie-cutter looking site. It's a solution, but you'll run the risk of looking like everybody else out there with PostNuke or PHPNuke...

[axoi]

What server setup do you have? What scripting engine do you have available? This could be done in ASP, PHP, Perl or other scripting software.

htaccess is for a limited number of users. Its somewhat hard to setup and could be difficult to debug if something goes wrong.

I would suggest that you use a PHP script to process the login. You do not need to run MySql or other database software however. PHP has a built in DBM ( database manager) software interface which would allow you to set and retrieve the name/password values easily. The script could also use a simple text file that was outside the web root of the website. This would be simplest solution and perhaps the quickest for you.

A simple PHP script like those above could be done in less than an hour. If you'd like PM me for rates.

[Big Perm-dizzle]

axoi check your PMs

JUST LAUNCHED - www.hirethisdesigner.com (http://www.hirethisdesigner.com) - check it out

[deva mx]

That's a cool design BIG PERM! -Thanks for all of your suggestions and advice.

Axoi- I'm not sure about the server setup- or the scripting engine could you explain those? I'm using Comcast cable {taking advantage of the free web page they gave} at the moment. Is anyone familiar with the server setup they use? I know I have more research to do on what goes into finding a good hosting service- Can anybody recommend a one? I'm not sure what I should be looking for- but I would like to be able to become more familiar for myself and for clients. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m a novice to web design and I’m not very active in the business right now- because I would like to really familiarize myself a few areas- like Forms and Logins (that sort of thing). I know a little about Form2Mail/ASP scripts. By the way, here’s a site I designed for a client a while back- please check it out and let me know what you think about form on this site http://drtoma.com/. One problem I had with that site was changing the Submit button on the form. I tried different codes- and they always seemed to interfere with the function of sending the form. The problem wasn't in adding a new Submit button- but more with getting the form to work correctly once it was put in. Anyway, I would like to learn more about PHP simply because it seems to be a thing that keeps coming up. I recently visited a designers site who offers Form2Mail/ASP {not sure if Form2Mail is ASP- I hope I’m getting that right} anyway- I noticed that .php?dls=6 at the end of every single page on their site. They have a form on their site to reach their potential clients. Does PHP handle that form? Or is that still an ASP scripting? Could someone enlighten me- here is the link to that site: http://www.driliquid.com/index.php?dls=1 What does PHP do for this site? I think that would explain it better for me.

Thank you.

[Benjamin]

ASP and PHP are both server side scripting languages. ASP is a Microsoft product. PHP is open source and completely free but still really good so I would learn that.

Traditionally server side scripting was done with CGI scripts that were often written in Perl, so that is another option. But I think PHP is supposed to be faster and better.

There is a popular CGI program called FormMail which takes the input from an HTML form and turns it into an email. Perhaps Form2Mail is a version of this that uses ASP. Anyway this functionality is something that both PHP and ASP can do relatively easily. It is just one of the many types of tasks they are used for.

http://www.jackfruitdesign.com/
Om Namah Shivaya

[Driliquid]

Hello Deva MX,

My website (Driliquid Studio (http://www.driliquid.com)) is coded fully in PHP.My Contact form is coded in PHP. Alot of people are turning to PHP becuase its cheap. Cheap meaning as FREE. As for ASP the servers are expensive and you have to purchase addons to make some web applications work. PHP comes with all the modules and functions needed to create any type of web application and hosting services are cheaper.

Feel free to contact me if you have an further PHP or Programming questions.

-Carlos


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Post Edited (Driliquid) : 6/20/2004 2:44:57 PM GMT