Implementing User Authentication Mechanism

The use of user authentication is common in the modern web applications. It is a method of security which is employed to limit access to members-only areas and features on a website.

In this tutorial, we'll design an easy authentication and sign-up system with PHP as well as MySQL. This tutorial consists of two sections: in the first section,

we'll design an online registration form for users as well as in the second, we'll build a login page and the welcome page, and also an exit script.

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Designing the Registration System

In this part, we'll construct a registration system that will allow users to sign up for a brand new account by filling in the web form. First, we have to create a table which can store all information about the users.

Step 1 is to create the Database Table

Run this SQL procedure to build users table in your MySQL database. user table within the MySQL database.

Check out the video tutorial about SQL CREATE TABLE statement for detailed information on syntax used to create tables in the MySQL databases.

Step 2 Step 2: Create the Config File

After we have created the table, we must make the PHP script that will be able to connect with MySQL. MySQL database server. Create a file called "config.php" and insert the following code in it.

In the event that you've already downloaded Object Oriented and PDO code examples by clicking this download link, you must take out the words "-oo-format" as well as "-pdo-format" from the file names prior to attempting to test the code.

NOTE: Replace the credentials in accordance with your MySQL server's settings before you test this code.

For example replacing the database name 'demo' by the name of your database or replace username 'root' by your own username for your database and specify the password for your database in the event that there is one.

Third Step: Making an Registration Form

Create a new PHP file called "register.php" and then add the following code example into it. This code will create an online form that permits users to sign-up.

This script could also cause errors when a user attempts to submit the form , but fails in entering any information or if the username input by the user is previously used by another.

In the previous example we've utilized PHP's built-in password_hash() function to create a password hash using the password string that is entered by the user ( line no-78). This function generates an encrypted password hash with a secure single-way algorithm for hashing. It additionally generates and assigns a random salt while hashing the password.

it basically means that in the event that two users use identical passwords the password hashes of their respective users will differ.

At the time of login, we'll check the password entered using the password hash that is that is stored within the database by using the PHP password_verify() function, as shown in the following example.

The development of the Login System

In this section, we'll build an login form that allows users will be able to enter their username as well as password.

When the user fills out the form the inputs will be checked against the credentials in the database. If both usernames and passwords are compatible the user is authenticated and has access to the site otherwise, the login attempt will be denied.

If the data is derived from outside sources, such as a form that is that are filled out by anonymous users there is a possibility that it could contain malicious code indented in order to trigger the cross-site scripting (XSS) threats.

So, you should remove this data by using this PHP the htmlspecialchars() function before showing it in your web browser so the HTML tag that it has is harmless.

For example, after the escape of special characters, the string changes to that string, which isn't executed by the browser.

3. Making the Logout script

Let's now create the "logout.php" fichier. If the user clicks the sign out or log out button, the code within this file erases the session, and redirects the user on the page for login.

Incorporating the Password Reset feature

In this section, we'll also add a password reset tool for our login systems. With this feature, users who have logged in are able to instantly reset their passwords for their accounts.

Let's make a file with the name "reset-password.php" and then insert the following code within it.