[SOLVED] Email Account Activation

[chocopi]

When my users register on my site they recieve an activation email. i was wondering, how do i make so there is a link in the email that when the user clicks it, it changes their active satus from 0 to 1.

 

Many Thanks,

 

~ Chocopi

[taith]

on your database, put a `key` field, with a random based string... and a `activated` field, so when you send them an email, it has a link with that random based string, goes to the database, and activates the account with that key :-)

[paul2463]

have an activation.php page which only has one task

 

$code = $_GET['code'];

$query = "SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE activationcode = $code";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_query());
$row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result);

if (mysql_num_rows($result) == 1)
{
$id = $row['idtable'];
$update = "UPDATE tablename SET active =1 WHERE idtable = '$id'";
mysql_query($update) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_query());
echo "Your account is now active";
header(location: where you need it to be forwarded to;
exit;
}
else
{
header(location: login page);
}

 

then in the email have the activation number be a link to this page setting itself as the code part of the address

 

hope that helps

[chocopi]

Thanks for your help !!!

 

but i cant seem to get the code to work, what should the link be.

 

should it be root/activation.php or root/activation/

[chocopi]

as i couldnt get yours to work i improvised with this:

 

$activate = $_GET['activate'];

$query = "SELECT active FROM users WHERE code = $activate";

if ($query == 0)
{

$update = "UPDATE users SET active =1 WHERE code = $activate";
mysql_query($update) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_query());

print ("<br /> \n");
print ("<center> \n");
print ("$username, your account is now active, please login on the homepage. \n");
print ("<br /> \n");
print ("<br /> \n");
print ("<a href=\"index.php\">Home Page</a> \n");
print ("</center> \n");

}

 

But for some reason i keep getting an error.

 

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

~ Chocopi

[Broniukas]

what error exacly did u get?

[chocopi]

i get a query error from

 

mysql_query($update) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_query());

 

so it just says "Error in query"

[Broniukas]

just put some quotes

 

$update = "UPDATE users SET active ='1' WHERE code = '$activate'";

 

[eZe616]

i get a query error from

 

mysql_query($update) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_query());

 

so it just says "Error in query"

 

shouldn't it be mysql_error() instead of mysql_query() , for it to display the error

[chocopi]

@Broniukas: im still getting the same error

 

@eZe616: will that make a big difference

[Broniukas]

try to change

 

mysql_query($update) or die (mysql_error());

 

and you will find out whats wrong

 

 

[chocopi]

Thanks for your help.

 

you wouldnt believe it but i forgot to add the page_header so it wasnt connecting to the database 

 

however, its still not working properly as it is not picking up the username variable or the the actual activation variable.

 

i think it might be because i am just loading activation.php as i dont know how to get it to work when its activation/

please help,

thanks

~ Chocopi

[Broniukas]

dont forget to click SOLVED

[chocopi]

yea but its not working.

 

if you could, can you tell how i can get it to recognise that it is the user.

 

the way i would like it to work is that the user clicks on the link root/activation/

 it loads up the activation page and activaters their account

[paul2463]

for that to happen then the link they click must also pass either their activation code in the url such as

 

location.href="http://www.yourPage.com/activate.php?code=123456789";

 

where 123456789 is the activation code you emailed them, then using something like the code I sent originally (admittedly flawed with mysql_query() instead of mysql_error()) which searches the table for that code, pulls the id and updates the the table with the user in it to 'active' for that id.

[chocopi]

Thanks 

 

as im still a n00b with php would be possible if you could write something for me?

 

if you can then the activation code would be $activation table would be 'users' and the coloum to update would be 'active'

 

Many thanks,

 

~ Chocopi

[paul2463]

<?php
$activation = $_GET['activation']; //get the activation code from the url

$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE activationcode = '$activation'"; //first see if it is a real activation code
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_error());
$row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result);

if (mysql_num_rows($result) == 1) //if one row is returned then it is real
{
$id = $row['idtable']; //get the id of the table for that activation code
$update = "UPDATE users SET active=1 WHERE idusers = '$id'";
mysql_query($update) or die ("Error in query" . mysql_error());

header(location: ; //send them to the page you want them as an active user
exit;

}
else
{

header(location: ; //send them where you want them to go as a none active user
exit;

}
?>

[chocopi]

wow thanks, but it is saying there is an parse error in

header(location: index.php);

[chigley]

<?php

header("Location: index.php");

?>

[paul2463]

Have a look <a href="http://uk3.php.net/header"> HERE AT THE MANUAL </a> the third grey block from the top gives you the syntax for it

[chocopi]

kool thanks guys, sorry about that. i was unaware of ze quotation marks