What are the recommended methods for implementing a "remember me" feature in a PHP login form?

To implement a "remember me" feature in a PHP login form, you can use cookies to store a user's login credentials securely. When a user logs in with the "remember me" option checked, you can set a cookie with a unique token that identifies the user. Upon subsequent visits, you can check for this cookie and automatically log in the user if it is present. 

// Check if the "remember me" checkbox is checked
if(isset($_POST['remember_me'])){
    // Generate a unique token
    $token = bin2hex(random_bytes(16));
    
    // Set a cookie with the token that expires in 30 days
    setcookie('remember_token', $token, time() + (30 * 24 * 60 * 60), '/');
    
    // Store the token in the database for future reference
    // This is just an example, you should adapt this to your database structure
    $user->updateRememberToken($token);
}

// When a user visits the site, check for the remember me cookie
if(isset($_COOKIE['remember_token'])){
    // Retrieve the user based on the token
    $user = $user->getUserByRememberToken($_COOKIE['remember_token']);
    
    // Log in the user if the token is valid
    if($user){
        $_SESSION['user_id'] = $user->id;
    }
}

Keywords

sessions cookies authentication security persistent login

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