Ahmed Raza ChuhdaryCEO, Thear | Member, Welson Group06 March 2023, 02:21 AM

A Guide to Creating a Login System with PHP

Creating a login system with PHP is a fundamental skill for web developers. In this guide, we will walk through the process of building a basic login system using PHP.
Before we start, it's important to note that security is a critical consideration when building a login system. We will focus on the basics in this guide, but it's important to continue to research and implement best practices for security in your login system.
Here are the steps to follow:

Create a database

First, we need to create a database to store user data. We'll use MySQL in this guide, but you can use any database management system you prefer.
Open your preferred database management system and create a new database. Create a table named "users" with the following columns:
id (auto-increment)
username (varchar)
password (varchar)
email (varchar)

Create a login form

Next, we need to create a login form for users to enter their username and password. Create a new PHP file and add the following code:
`
<html>
<head>
<title>Login</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Login</h1>
<form method="post" action="login.php">
<label for="username">Username:</label>
<input type="text" id="username" name="username" /><br />
<label for="password">Password:</label>
<input type="password" id="password" name="password" /><br />
<input type="submit" value="Login" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
`
This code creates a simple login form with two fields for the username and password. The form's method is set to post, and the action is set to login.php, which is the PHP script we'll create next.

Validate user credentials

Now, we need to create the PHP script that will validate the user's login credentials against the database. Create a new PHP file named "login.php" and add the following code:
`
<?php
session_start();
// Check if the user has submitted the login form
if (isset($_POST['username']) && isset($_POST['password'])) {
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];
// Connect to the database
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database_name');
// Check if the connection was successful
if (!$conn) {
die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}
// Query the database for the user
$sql = "SELECT
  • FROM users WHERE username='$username'";
    • $result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
    // Check if the user exists
    if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
    $user = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
    // Check if the password is correct
    if (password_verify($password, $user['password'])) {
    // Set session variables
    $_SESSION['user_id'] = $user['id'];
    $_SESSION['username'] = $user['username'];
    $_SESSION['email'] = $user['email'];
    // Redirect to the home page
    header('Location: home.php');
    exit;
    } else {
    echo "Incorrect password";
    }
    } else {
    echo "User not found";
    }
    // Close the database connection
    mysqli_close($conn);
    }
    ?>
    `
    This code starts by starting a session using session_start(). It then checks if the user has submitted the login form by checking if the $_POST variables for the username and password are set.
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