MySQLi User Authentication

Implementing User Authentication

Your web application can contain a page that lets registered users log in to the site.

A login page is made up of the following building blocks:

  1. A database table of registered users
  2. An HTML form to let users enter a user name and password
  3. A Log In User server behavior to make sure the entered user name and password are valid

A session variable consisting of the user name is created for the user when the user logs in successfully.


Create a database table of registered users

You need a database table of registered users to verify that the user name and password entered in the login page are valid.

Use your database application and a registration page to create the table. For instructions, see the related topic link below.
The next step in building a login page is to add an HTML form to the page to let users log in. See the next topic for instructions.


Add an HTML form to let users log in

You add an HTML form to the page to let users log in by entering a user name and password.

Create a page (File > New > Blank Page), and lay out your login page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and choosing Form from the Insert menu.
An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.

Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form, opening the Property inspector (Window > Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.
You don’t have to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data when the user clicks the Submit button. The Log In User server behavior sets these attributes for you.

Add a user name and a password text field (Insert > Form > Text Field) to the form.
Add labels (either as text or images) beside each text field, and line up the text fields by placing them inside an HTML table and setting the table’s border attribute to 0.

Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window > Properties), and entering a new value in the Label box.

The next step in building a login page is to add the MySQLi User Authentiation Server Behaviors.

 

User Authentication Server Behaviors

  • Check New Username - Checks to see if a new username already exists. This is useful for new user registrations.
  • Log In User - Verifies that the entered user name and password are valid.
  • Log Out User - Logs out a currently logged in user.
  • Restrict Access To Page - Restricts access to a given page based on logged in status.