Authentication

[Adam Smith]

First of all, is there a group addressing "Authentication" issues? I've
searched and could not find any - Plz. forgive if I have posted to the
wrong group or direct me to one dealing with these issues {preferred}

Hello!

I am putting together a multi-page sites, MySQL & PostgreSQL pages
included. I'd like to make all pages publicly visible, however on pages
containing defined features such as forms, certain scripts, SSI's etc
the running of these should be restricted to authenticated registered
users. Could someone advise how this can best be achieved. The use of
..htaccess type approaches don't quite do it as they restrict access to
whole directories and below, effectively denying access of the public to
whole sections of the site.

I've wondered about the use of cookies, but not been too familiar with
them have been a bit unsure.

Plz. advise and comment

Thanks!
Adam

[Bruce Lewis]

Adam Smith <ad*******@econ.com> writes:

First of all, is there a group addressing "Authentication" issues?
I've searched and could not find any - Plz. forgive if I have posted
to the wrong group or direct me to one dealing with these issues
{preferred}
The closest fit for server-side programming questions is
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi, but it's understandable that that
wouldn't be obvious.
I am putting together a multi-page sites, MySQL & PostgreSQL pages
included. I'd like to make all pages publicly visible, however on
pages containing defined features such as forms, certain scripts,
SSI's etc the running of these should be restricted to authenticated
registered users. Could someone advise how this can best be
achieved. The use of .htaccess type approaches don't quite do it as
they restrict access to whole directories and below, effectively
denying access of the public to whole sections of the site.
Put text near the forms to let users know they are for registered users
only, then make the ACTION of each form point to a script under, e.g.,
/registered that is restricted by .htaccess.
I've wondered about the use of cookies, but not been too familiar with
them have been a bit unsure.

You really have to know what you're doing to use cookies securely and
effectively. If you can make things work with .htaccess, do so.

--

http://ourdoings.com/ Easily organize and disseminate news and
photos for your family or group.

[Adam Smith]

Thanks - a few more

Bruce Lewis wrote:

Adam Smith <ad*******@econ.com> writes:

First of all, is there a group addressing "Authentication" issues?
I've searched and could not find any - Plz. forgive if I have posted
to the wrong group or direct me to one dealing with these issues
{preferred}

The closest fit for server-side programming questions is
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi, but it's understandable that that
wouldn't be obvious.

I am putting together a multi-page sites, MySQL & PostgreSQL pages
included. I'd like to make all pages publicly visible, however on
pages containing defined features such as forms, certain scripts,
SSI's etc the running of these should be restricted to authenticated
registered users. Could someone advise how this can best be
achieved. The use of .htaccess type approaches don't quite do it as
they restrict access to whole directories and below, effectively
denying access of the public to whole sections of the site.

Put text near the forms to let users know they are for registered users
only, then make the ACTION of each form point to a script under, e.g.,
/registered that is restricted by .htaccess.

I've been running my scripts under `http:/my.domain.com/cgi-bin/ w/ an
alias removed from the document root. So if I were to create a .htaccess
protected directory, viz. /registered as an example, under the doc root,
each time a registered user attempts to run a script s/he would be
forced to go through an authentication step of inputing their
userid/password pair; [Is my thinking correct?]. I was hoping for
something with a more "persistent of state" attribute.

I've wondered about the use of cookies, but not been too familiar with
them have been a bit unsure.

You really have to know what you're doing to use cookies securely and
effectively. If you can make things work with .htaccess, do so.