Are there any best practices or alternative methods for restricting access to hidden pages on a website in PHP without using sessions or cookies?

To restrict access to hidden pages on a website without using sessions or cookies, you can utilize a combination of URL parameters and server-side validation. By passing a secret token or key through the URL and validating it on the server side, you can ensure that only users with the correct token can access the hidden pages. 

<?php
// Define a secret key
$secret_key = "my_secret_key";

// Check if the secret key is provided in the URL
if(isset($_GET['key']) && $_GET['key'] === $secret_key) {
    // Allow access to the hidden page
    echo "Welcome to the hidden page!";
} else {
    // Redirect or display an error message
    echo "Access denied.";
}
?>

Keywords

authentication authorization URL parameters HTTP headers access control

Related Questions