PHP Login script advice

[chimp]

I am looking at adding an admin section to my site, and want to do the following:

Install a MySQL Database to hold users info (possibly with different access levels for the users)
Create a Login form

when the user logs in correctly they are then taken to the admin section.

I have very little knowledge of this type of thing and am looking for help and links on the best place to start please..

cheers

Andy

[strasm]

There are two main ways you can go, either authentication through Apache or through PHP; both have advantages. Authenticating through PHP does not allow you to restrict access to non-php files. Going through Apache must use the browser's login screen (which is not pretty).

For more information on Apache's login search for .htaccess and mod_auth or mod_auth_mysql. For information on PHP search for $_SESSION. I would suggest trying to read up on both methods and decide how you want to do it. Either way is fairly easy to implement it is more a matter of choice.