RE: [PHP] How to keep unauthorized viewers out

A dummy idea: in story.php you put a key in: <? include "auth.inc" ; include "header.inc" ; unset($key); $key = 'BHEKFBSA"IjsjbdshlycgewypH:*:YEWCnbms'; include $storynum.".htm" ; include "footer.inc" ; ?> then key.php will have this: if($key != 'BHEKFBSA"IjsjbdshlycgewypH:*:YEWCnbms';) Exit; then in every file you wish to protect include key.php and the articles will show up only in case it was included, or someone knew what to type in the URL... another idea, might not be suitable for you, but would be much smarter: is to pass-protect the directory with articles (it HAS to be a different directory from the story.php) the article will then be still shown under the password or when only included by PHP... there's a whole bunch of ways to do what you're asking ... Cheers, Maxim Maletsky .. -----Original Message----- From: Miles Thompson [mailto:milesthompson@sprint.ca] Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 8:49 AM To: php-general@lists.php.net Subject: [PHP] How to keep unauthorized viewers out I'm using a pretty simple linking system for a subscription-based newsletter site. Stories and articles are in straight html files, reached by links from the front page. Clicking on a link passes a story number. So the second story on the index page would have this link: <A HREF="./story.php?storynum=2"> and story.php consists of just these lines: <? include "auth.inc" ; include "header.inc" ; include $storynum.".htm" ; include "footer.inc" ; ?> If someone comes in the "right way", through the index page, they will have to be authenticated, then the header, article and page footer are displayed. There's nothing, however, to stop someone from typing an URL like this: http://www.somepub.ca/2.htm and seeing the article. I assume they could also come in that way via a search engine. Any suggestions on how to stop that? Resources I should look at? I do want to keep the stories in straight html as the editor is struggling now with basic layout, etc. Regards - Miles Thompson -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, e-mail: php-general-unsubscribe@lists.php.net For additional commands, e-mail: php-general-help@lists.php.net To contact the list administrators, e-mail: php-list-admin@lists.php.net