What are common reasons for session timeouts or cookies not being recognized in PHP applications?

Session timeouts or cookies not being recognized in PHP applications can occur due to incorrect session settings, expired sessions, or browser settings blocking cookies. To solve this issue, you can adjust session settings to increase the session timeout duration, ensure sessions are properly started and maintained throughout the application, and check if cookies are being set and read correctly.

// Adjust session settings to increase timeout duration
ini_set('session.gc_maxlifetime', 3600); // 1 hour session timeout

// Start session
session_start();

// Check if session is active
if(isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    // Session is active, continue with application logic
} else {
    // Redirect to login page or handle session expiration
}