What are some common methods to track user activity and online status in PHP?

To track user activity and online status in PHP, you can use sessions or database entries to store information about when a user was last active or logged in. By updating this information regularly, you can determine if a user is currently online or not.

// Start or resume the session
session_start();

// Update user's last activity timestamp
$_SESSION['last_activity'] = time();

// Check if user is online based on last activity time
$online_threshold = 60; // User is considered online if they have been active in the last 60 seconds
$online_status = (time() - $_SESSION['last_activity'] < $online_threshold) ? 'Online' : 'Offline';

echo 'User is currently ' . $online_status;