PHP & MySQL® Web Development All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies®

3.2. Creating the User Database

The application design calls for a database that stores user information. The database is the core of this application. The database is needed to store the username and passwords of all users allowed to access the Web site. Often, the database is used to store much more information about the customer. This information can be used for marketing purposes.

The login application in this chapter assumes that the users are customers who are willing to provide their names, addresses, and other information. This type of application is most appropriate for sites that sell products to customers. The user database is named Customer.

3.2.1. Designing the Customer database

Your first design task is to select the information you want to store in the Customer database. At the very least, you need to store a username and a password that the user can use to log in. It's also useful to know when the user account was created. In deciding which information to collect during the user registration, you need to balance your urge to collect all the potentially useful information that you can think of against your users' urges to avoid forms that look too time-consuming and their reluctance to give out personal information. One compromise is to ask for some optional information. Users who don't mind will enter it, and those who object can just leave it blank.

Some information is required for your Web site to perform its function. For instance, users can readily see that ...