security login

Well, first off sory for a very basic question, but i really dont know where else to look for the answer. Heres my dilemma: I need to code a backend for this site i am building, the backend will manage the news for the front page. The database stuff is pretty straight forward (so far!), but i need to validate who does the managing, i mean, some sort of login for only a few people. I am thinking of using username/pass from a table and all that but the thing is, how do i do the validating itself? Sure i know how to check for valid user/pass, but then what happens for the rest of the pages inside the backend, how do i keep the user validated and make sure only he can browse inside that "secure" mini site? Dont know if i am explaining things right, hmm, ok, any of you guys are familiar with gryematter? It validates the user at the start and then we can do whatever we want inside. I want to prevent users from skipping the login and just typing the other page url and go on from there. I use sessions, cookies? what? can you provide me with some urls for my research, or at least what to look for? Thanks a lot, really appreciate all the help. Pag