What are the best practices for implementing a registration and login system in a PHP forum?

To implement a registration and login system in a PHP forum, it is important to securely store user credentials, validate user input, and use sessions to keep users logged in. Additionally, implementing password hashing and salting techniques can enhance security. 

// Registration form handling
if(isset($_POST['register'])){
    // Validate input data
    $username = $_POST['username'];
    $password = $_POST['password'];
    
    // Hash and salt the password
    $hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
    
    // Store user credentials in database
    // Implement your database connection and query here
}

// Login form handling
if(isset($_POST['login'])){
    // Validate input data
    $username = $_POST['username'];
    $password = $_POST['password'];
    
    // Retrieve user credentials from database based on username
    // Implement your database connection and query here
    
    // Verify password using password_verify function
    if(password_verify($password, $hashed_password)){
        // Start session and set user as logged in
        $_SESSION['username'] = $username;
    } else {
        // Display error message
    }
}

Keywords

authentication password hashing session management form validation SQL injection

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