GeLS (Generic Login System)

Are you looking for a fast, easy to use login system? Are you looking for a way to password protect part or all of your website, but don't have the time or knowledge to code an entire user management system? Look no further!

Features [expand all contract all]

Everything is ready for you out of the box: Don't know how to build a user login and registration system or don't have the time? Install GeLS and start protecting your content right away. Installation is straightforward and takes just a few minutes. Everything is provided in a simple, plain vanilla style so that you can customize GeLS to fit your needs.
Secure: The entire point of a login system is for it to be secure. GeLS was designed to be secure and easy to use. For example, take the "remember me" feature. Other login systems that use this feature store your password in a cookie which can easily be stolen and used on another computer to login as you. This would allow a hacker to easily gain full access and change your account information. With GeLS, no password information is ever stored in a cookie, and the only way to update your information is to authenticate through GeLS, even if you are already logged in. This prevents someone from stealing your login cookie and trying to change your information. Also, GeLS will display the last IP address you logged in from and tell you how long it's been since you last logged in. You can also configure GeLS to force secure logins (via SSL) on any pages you protect including GeLS itself.
Quick setup: Setup takes just a few minutes. Upload the GeLS files to your server, edit the configuration file, and run the database configuration script. Now you're ready to go!
Can be customized to match your site's design: The GeLS login and user administration pages default to a clear, uncluttered, plan vanilla, W3C-complaint style which comes ready for you to customize. GeLS doesn't modify the look or function of any pages it protects, so once you've installed GeLS, you can begin using it right away and customize the backend look later.
"Remember Me" login: For convenience, you can have GeLS set a cookie to remember member login information. Whenever someone visits your site they will automatically be logged in without having to type their username and password. You configure the duration of the cookie in GeLS' configuration file. Unlike other login systems, GeLS doesn't store any password information in the user's cookie which prevents a hacker from reverse engineering a user's password or changing their profile information.
Forgotten password recovery with reset wait period: Some login systems allow you to pick a security question to help you remember your password should you forget it. This is highly insecure and hackers can try and guess the answer in order to gain access to your account. GeLS does not use security questions, but rather emails a registered user with a new, random password. Users can than login with either their new, random password (at which point they are forced to change it), or their existing password should they remember it after requesting it be reset. GeLS also limits the number of forgotten password reset requests you can make to avoid spamming.
Customizable password complexity rules: Some login systems force you to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to select a secure password, while others allow you to enter anything at all. With GELS, you determine how complex user passwords must be. Rules are enforced when a user registers or changes their password. The default registration form is enhanced with jQuery to immediately let users know if their password doesn't meet your requirements so that they don't have to repeatedly submit the form to find out that what they entered wasn't good enough. By making setting password complexity rules simple, you can help tighten your system's security against poorly chosen passwords.
Open/Closed registration (Administrator confirmed accounts): Your can setup GeLS to automatically approve all user registrations or you can select to manually approve new registrants. If administrator approved, all new registrations are put into a waiting state where they are not able to login until an administrator has approved them (with one click). Users receive an email with their registration information and a note that they don't have access until they're been approved. Once approved they receive a final all-clear email letting them know that they have been approved.
reCAPTCHA enabled: Spammers love to create accounts to spread their unwanted messages. To help eliminate bogus logins, GeLS uses the reCAPTCHA system to have new users prove that they're human and not an automated form-completing script. reCAPTCHA is totally free and be customized to fit in with your site's theme.
Administration area: One of the main goals of GeLS was to keep user administration simple. We've created an easy to use administration area where you can easily browse, search, and sort your members. The administration area gives you full control over all your users and their management. View and edit user details, ban/unban, confirm/confirm, delete, and delete inactive users.
Email notifications: All email that GeLS sends out is automated and is based on user activity. Email is sent automatically whenever someone registers, a new users needs to be confirmed, or a password is forgotten. Emails are sent in plain text and the content of the messages can easily be customized.
jQuery enhanced registration: GeLS' default registration form is enhanced with jQuery to help make registration go quickly and smoothly. Invalid input is recognized before a user submits their registration so that they can save time and reduce frustration. For users without JavaScript, GeLS will present the same error messages after the registration form has been submitted. The default registration form also will remember user input and populate all fields with the information the user entered, should they have to make a correction.
Active user count: Easily display the number of confirmed, registered users. You can also list the users currently logged into the system.
Can be integrated with PayPal subscriptions: GeLS can be setup to work with PayPal's subscription services so that you can run a subscription based website that only paying members have access to. PayPal allows you to store transaction data on your server, and by using a database to keep subscriber information, GeLS can be setup to automatically manage user access based on subscription data (note that this functionality requires modification of GeLS as well as integration with PayPal's IPN service).

Demo

To test GeLS, the registration process, and see how a user account works, use the registration form at the top of this page, or click here to register. All accounts are deleted automatically after seven days.
To login as admin, use the username and password of "admin" (no quotes) in the form above, then click this link to visit the admin page (if you're not logged in as admin then you'll be redirected back here).

Examples

Check out these example links:

A completely protected page. Only registered users (any level) can view this page. All other users will be redirected to a page explaining why they can't access it.
A page where only part of the content is protected. The content on this page is viewable to everyone (guests and registered members), however logged in users will see extra information that guests won't see.
A protected page that is accessible to users with a level of five or greater. In addition to protecting all or part of a page, you can also specify which users, based on their user level, can access content. Here, we redirect guests and users with a user level below five to a page explaining why they can't access it.

Buy Now

All major credit cards accepted. Payments are processed by PayPal, but you do not need an account with PayPal to complete your transaction.

Requirements

PHP 4.3 or later
MySQL 3.23 or later