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Introduction
A PHP login page typically involves a front-end HTML form where users input their credentials, and a back-end PHP script to verify these credentials against a database. For this example, we’ll use a MySQL database.
Pre-requisites
- PHP Environment: You need a server with PHP installed. You can use local servers like XAMPP or WAMP.
- Database: MySQL database. We’ll create a users table.
- Front-end: Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS.
Step 1: Setting Up the Database
First, create a MySQL database named login_system and a table users.
CREATE DATABASE login_system;
USE login_system;
CREATE TABLE users (
id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
username VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
password VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
);Insert a test user:
INSERT INTO users (username, password) VALUES ('testUser', MD5('testPass'));Step 2: Creating the Login Form
Create an HTML file login.html.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Login Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<form action="login.php" method="post">
Username: <input type="text" name="username"><br>
Password: <input type="password" name="password"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Login">
</form>
</body>
</html>Step 3: Writing the PHP Script
Create a PHP file login.php.
<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "";
$dbname = "login_system";
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
$user = $_POST['username'];
$pass = MD5($_POST['password']);
$sql = "SELECT id FROM users WHERE username='$user' AND password='$pass'";
$result = $conn->query($sql);
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
echo "Login successful!";
} else {
echo "Invalid username or password.";
}
$conn->close();
?>Step 4: Securing the Login Script
While the above script works, it’s vulnerable to SQL injection. Use prepared statements to secure it.
Replace the $sql line and onwards in login.php with:
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT id FROM users WHERE username=? AND password=?");
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $user, $pass);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
echo "Login successful!";
} else {
echo "Invalid username or password.";
}
$stmt->close();
$conn->close();Step 5: Adding Sessions
To keep the user logged in, use PHP sessions.
Add at the beginning of login.php:
session_start();And modify the successful login condition:
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
$_SESSION['user'] = $user;
echo "Login successful!";
// Redirect to another page
} else {
echo "Invalid username or password.";
}Conclusion
This basic example demonstrates how to create a PHP login page. Remember, for a production environment, you need to consider more robust security measures like HTTPS, password hashing, and more.
Additional Tips
- Validation: Add front-end and back-end validation for the inputs.
- Password Security: Use password hashing functions like
password_hash()andpassword_verify(). - HTTPS: Always use HTTPS to protect sensitive data transmissions.
Wrapping Up
This post covered the essential steps to create a PHP login system. It’s important to build upon these basics and add more layers of security and functionality as per your project’s requirements. Happy coding!
