Dynamic Websites & User "account pages"

[Gabe_the_Animator]

What would be the easiest way (the less code, the better) to create a dynamic website where users can log into their own custom pages? I have already set up a database that users can enter login info, and I know how to use the "User Authentication Wizard" in Dreamweaver so a signed-up user can log into a generic page, but how do you make it THEIR page? With just their own information? Do you use Session, Cookie, or URL parameters? How?

[Newsgroup_User]

You can use either. Use Cookies if you want the info stored on the user's
computer so the information can be remembered from session to session. Use
Sessions if you just want the info to persist till they log out.

You can make it their page by group by using Access Levels in the server
behaviors. You can make it even more customized by storing their
information in a database table that is identified by their ID number and
populate the page on the fly according to the user ID, which you would of
course store in a session so it would persist across the entire set of
pages.


--
Nancy Gill
Adobe Community Expert
Author: Dreamweaver 8 e-book for the DMX Zone
Co-Author: Dreamweaver MX: Instant Troubleshooter (August, 2003)
Technical Editor: DMX 2004: The Complete Reference, DMX 2004: A Beginner''s
Guide, Mastering Macromedia Contribute
Technical Reviewer: Dynamic Dreamweaver MX/DMX: Advanced PHP Web Development

"Gabe the Animator" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:f5bmt0$dr3$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> What would be the easiest way (the less code, the better) to create a
> dynamic
> website where users can log into their own custom pages? I have already
> set up
> a database that users can enter login info, and I know how to use the
> "User
> Authentication Wizard" in Dreamweaver so a signed-up user can log into a
> generic page, but how do you make it THEIR page? With just their own
> information? Do you use Session, Cookie, or URL parameters? How?
>
>

[Gabe_the_Animator]

Its the "session" that I don't understand. I can't seem to figure out how to implement sessions in Dreamweaver. How do you implement sessions throughout all of the pages, in dynamic tables, etc?

[Newsgroup_User]

You have to initially create the session and after that, DW can help you.
Consider this code:

Session("svmysession") = ("1")

That would set a session called svmysession (I always name my sessions
starting with sv for session variable because that makes them easily
recognizable. That code (in ASP) sets a session equal to the number 1.
After that you could call it on any page with this code:

<%= Session("svmysession") %>

This is where Dreamweaver helps you. While it doesn't set sessions, it does
allow you to create a session object in the Data Bindings window which will
persist from page to page and allow you to quickly drop that object where
you need it on a page.

For example, you could have a session called svappname and set it equal to a
field in a form. Then you could say My application is called <%=
Session("svappname") %> and what would render in the browser would be My
application is called Dreamweaver if that is what you defined the session
to. This becomes powerful because those values can be stored in a database
and recalled. I recently created an application in which I could set the
look of the page based on what login was used by the user and then this line
of code in each of my pages:
<link href="../css/<%= Session("svcss") %>" media="screen" rel="stylesheet"
type="text/css" />

set the session to whatever value was in the database column for that user,
for example mypage.css would have set the link to <link
href="../css/mypage.css" media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

Get the idea? The code above is ASP, but there is similar in PHP, Cold
Fusion or whatever server model you are using.


--
Nancy Gill
Adobe Community Expert
Author: Dreamweaver 8 e-book for the DMX Zone
Co-Author: Dreamweaver MX: Instant Troubleshooter (August, 2003)
Technical Editor: DMX 2004: The Complete Reference, DMX 2004: A Beginner''s
Guide, Mastering Macromedia Contribute
Technical Reviewer: Dynamic Dreamweaver MX/DMX: Advanced PHP Web Development

"Gabe the Animator" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:f5btrl$lr0$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> Its the "session" that I don't understand. I can't seem to figure out how
> to implement sessions in Dreamweaver. How do you implement sessions
> throughout all of the pages, in dynamic tables, etc?

[Gabe_the_Animator]

Thanks. I think I understand now.