[PHP] Login and sessions?

[Pag]

Hi,

I am trying to add a "login" functionality to my new manager. A simple username/password functionality, so that the user logs in and everything he does inside the site will have his name. I mean, if he wants to create a new entry on the database, the field "name" wont have to be filled, etc.
Anyway, i dont have a clue to where to start. Tried to search the net but i dont even know the keywords to search for. Could you guys please put me in the good path?
Heres where i got so far:

Have a table on a mysql database named USERS, with "name", password" "address", etc on it.
What do i use to authenticate the user on my site? Sessions? If so, the steps i need to solve the problem are, user logs in, the server keeps his personal variables in "memory" so everytime they are needed for some form or whatever, the server fills the fields automatically.

How can i have several users "logged on" and then have like a box on the site displaying who and how many users are logged in?
Sorry for the messed up explanation, but i really dont know what do do about it. Thanks.

Pag



--
PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php