Creating a login section - Im new an need some serious direction please!

Question

Alright. So I am new, I know my way around html pretty well, and have gotten by for a while now doing so. But today I am presented with a seemingly simple issue.

My client needs the ability for users to create their own LOGIN/PASSWORD, my client wants to be able to MANUALLY approve visitors. And he want to be able to track how many times they login.

The login section will just be about 4 pages of PDF file downloads.

I cant imagine this is the hardest thing in the world, I just have no clue where to even start. Perhaps there is a code already written, as things like this are done every day using forum technologies...

Please help!

It may also help to mention that I am using Dreamweaver cs4 on a MAC

Answer 1

I'd check out Ruby on Rails if I were you. It's pretty easy to get something quick up with it that you can have users create accounts with that send e-mails to the client with approve/reject options, and be able to track downloads and users via MySQL or other databases.

I've found Agile Development with Rails to be a great source of info on how to do stuff like this (they do an online bookstore as the book's example) and with a little modification I think it should work for what you say you want to do (and the book is pretty cheap as far as programming books go).

Answer 2

Have you worked with PHP, ASP.Net or some other web language yet? What you're trying to isn't too difficult in the grand scheme of things but it may be somewhat challenging if you haven't programmed before and/or haven't had any experience with web development.

(P.s. Alter your question as a response and comment on my answer when you're finished.)

Answer 3

As you are looking into Ruby on Rails, take a look at bort which is a RoR app skeletton with RESTful authentication included, it should help (Chris Bunch answered on the general RoR question).

There is also this bort fork. There is also Authlogic which may be easier to work with.

Answer 4

If you want just really basic static login features without lots of coding, you can start with Password protecting your pages with htaccess. You can password protect directories like this without any effort at all. This way, you can be sure that your login routine is secure.

Then, you can continue with advanced features like account administration and login statistics. These will require some programming skills.

Tracking count of user logins should be easy too. You can put simple PHP code to the source of protected pages that will save the info about login to the database. This will require you to study some basics of databases. You can use plaintext files which is not as clean but much easier and it will allow you to export info for your client more easily.

If you want to do it profesionally, you should invest in learning about web development or hire someone to do it for you. These tasks might not be trivial.

Answer 5

Have a look at the ASP.net Membership provider and also the login controls which provides the UI for the login as well as registration screens out of the box. Here is a Multipart Series on ASP.NET's Membership, Roles, and Profile

If this is too complex than probably you can also design you application from scratch using ASP.net. If you don't know asp.net than the best place to start is www.asp.net it has several videos and tutorials which would help you get going soon.