User Authentication System 🛡️🔐

A modern, secure, and responsive User Authentication System built with PHP, MySQL, and Bootstrap. This project provides user registration, login, session management, and a clean dashboard, with a focus on security and user experience. 🚀

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Table of Contents 📑

• Features
• Technologies
• Project Structure
• Setup Instructions
• Usage
• Security
• Screenshots
• Future Improvements
• Contributing
• License

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Features ✨

• User Registration 📝: Create an account with username, email, and password.
• User Login 🔑: Securely log in with username and password.
• Session Management 🔗: Maintain user sessions with PHP sessions.
• Dashboard 🖥️: Personalized dashboard for logged-in users.
• Responsive Design 📱: Built with Bootstrap for a mobile-friendly UI.
• Secure Password Storage 🔐: Passwords are hashed using password_hash().
• Input Validation ✅: Client- and server-side validation for all inputs.
• Error Handling ⚠️: User-friendly error and success messages.
• Logout Functionality 🚪: Safely log out and destroy sessions.

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Technologies 🛠️

• PHP 7.4+ 🐘: Backend logic and session management.
• MySQL 🗄️: Database for storing user data.
• Bootstrap 5 🎨: Responsive and modern front-end styling.
• HTML5/CSS3 🌐: Structure and custom styles.
• PDO 🔗: Secure database connections with prepared statements.

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Project Structure 📂

user-auth-system/
├── css/                    # Custom styles
│   └── style.css
├── includes/               # Reusable PHP files
│   ├── db.php             # Database connection
│   ├── header.php         # Navbar and HTML head
│   └── footer.php         # HTML footer and scripts
├── register.php            # Registration page
├── login.php               # Login page
├── dashboard.php           # User dashboard
├── logout.php              # Logout script
└── index.php               # Home page

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Setup Instructions ⚙️

Prerequisites

• Web Server (e.g., Apache via XAMPP) 🖥️
• PHP 7.4+ 🐘
• MySQL 🗄️
• Browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox) 🌐

Steps

1. Clone the Repository 📥

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/user-auth-system.git

2. Set Up the Database 🗄️

   • Create a MySQL database named user_auth.
   • Run the following SQL to create the users table:

     CREATE DATABASE user_auth;
     USE user_auth;
     
     CREATE TABLE users (
         id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
         username VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
         email VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
         password VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
         created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
     );

3. Configure Database Connection 🔗

   • Open includes/db.php.
   • Update the database credentials:

     $host = 'localhost';
     $dbname = 'user_auth';
     $username = 'your_mysql_username'; // e.g., 'root'
     $password = 'your_mysql_password'; // e.g., ''

4. Host the Project 🌐

   • Move the project folder to your web server's root (e.g., htdocs for XAMPP).
   • Start your web server and MySQL.

5. Access the Application 🚀

   • Open http://localhost/user-auth-system/ in your browser.

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Usage 📖

1. Home Page 🏠
   • Visit the home page (index.php) to see links for login or registration.
2. Register 📝
   • Go to register.php, enter a username, email, and password, and submit.
   • Passwords must be at least 6 characters, and usernames/emails must be unique.
3. Login 🔑
   • Go to login.php, enter your username and password, and log in.
   • On success, you'll be redirected to the dashboard.
4. Dashboard 🖥️
   • View your personalized dashboard (dashboard.php) with a welcome message.
5. Logout 🚪
   • Click "Logout" to end your session and return to the login page.

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Security 🔒

• Password Hashing 🔐: Passwords are securely hashed using password_hash().
• SQL Injection Prevention 🛡️: Uses PDO prepared statements.
• XSS Protection 🚫: User inputs are escaped with htmlspecialchars().
• Session Security 🔗: Sessions are managed with session_start() and session_destroy().

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Screenshots 📸

(Add screenshots here if hosting on GitHub. For now, placeholders.)

• Registration Page 📝: Clean form with validation.
• Login Page 🔑: Simple and secure login interface.
• Dashboard 🖥️: Personalized user dashboard.

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Future Improvements 🌟

• Password Recovery 📧: Add email-based password reset.
• CAPTCHA 🤖: Prevent automated registrations.
• User Profiles 👤: Allow users to edit their profiles.
• Two-Factor Authentication 🔐: Enhance security with 2FA.
• Dark Mode 🌙: Add a toggle for dark theme.

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Contributing 🤝

Contributions are welcome! 🙌 To contribute:

1. Fork the repository 🍴.
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature) 🌿.
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "Add your feature") 💾.
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/your-feature) 🚀.
5. Open a Pull Request 📬.

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License 📜

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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💡 Built with ❤️ by Misagh
📬 Feel free to open an issue or contact me for questions!