create secure login 1

[DrAsh]

Anyone know a good site that can teach me how to create a secure login to my site. It's a home site so I'm not talking National defense. Just something that I use without having to hardcode the passwords and usersnames into my html/javascripts.

what is .htaccess?

also why in some of my addresses, are their percentage signs % between words? DrAsh

 

[tsdragon]

The % signs are used to encode non-alphanumeric characters such as spaces and punctuation. The two digits after the % sign are the hex ascii code for the character. For example, a space is represented as %20.

.htaccess is a file that is used to control access to a directory (and it's subdirectories). It specifies who can access the directory and what they can do there. It's usually used in combination with a .htpasswd file, which contains userids and encrypted passwords. When the web server finds a .htaccess file in a directory it will tell the browser that it needs a userid and password. The browser will pop up a dialog requesting them (you've probably seen this before). Once entered the browser will send them back in an authentication header. The web server will check the userid and password in the authentication header against the userids and passwords in the .htaccess and .htpasswd files to determine if the person is allowed access. If so, the requested page is returned. If not, a "You are not authorized to view this page" error code is returned. Since this capability is built into the web server and browser, it's one of the most commonly used forms of security.
Tracy Dryden
tracy@bydisn.com

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[DrAsh]

thanx alot. Your explaination made it very simple for me to understand.

How can I get a hold of this .htaccess file and .htpassword "utility" and where can I learn to implement this onto my page? DrAsh

 

[tsdragon]

Your web site host may have information or tools for you to use to manipulate .htaccess and .htpasswd files. I'd ask them first. If not there are programs for doing that on some of the cgi resource sites. Here's links for more info:

http://www.perl.com/pub/doc/FAQs/cgi/wwwsf3.html

http://www.perl.com/pub/doc/FAQs/cgi/www-security-faq.html

Here's links to cgi resources:

http://www.cpan.org

http://www.cgi-resources.com

http://www.hotscripts.com/Perl/

http://www.freeperlcode.com/guide/

http://www.icemall.com/free/free_perl_scripts.html

http://www.free-scripts.net/

http://scriptsearch.internet.com/

Tracy Dryden
tracy@bydisn.com

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[anasazii]

I have done something similar to this on my website, by setting up a child web with FrontPage.

My question is, is there any simple way to then logout using this method? Or am I going to have to do some kind of scripting?

Thanks, janel