Create a Members Only Blog using PHP, MySQL, & AJAX

Develop a four-page site using PHP, MySQL, and AJAX, featuring a members-only blog with registration, authentication, and AJAX-validated forms, plus a responsive Bootstrap layout.

Prepare your development environment by starting a local server, moving the perfect cup project into the web root, and configuring index.php with bootstrap, fonts, images, and scripts.

Update the index page to the perfect cup home branding by changing the main title, copy, author, and footer; remove the extra content box and implement a shared navigation file.

Update the home page title and copy to reflect the perfect cup. Extract the navigation into nav.php and include it with require_once for centralized updates.

Modify the about page by updating titles, headers, text, and images, replace navigation with an include, embed a responsive YouTube video, and preview changes.

Replace navigation with a PHP require, update the page title and footer, and turn each post into a read more button that opens a per-post modal with customized content.

Create a MySQL database and a members table via phpmyadmin for a members-only blog. Define id as auto_increment primary key and fname, lname, email, password as varchar with utf8_unicode_ci collation.

Build a php and mysql registration form with ajax validation, collecting first name, last name, email, and password, inserting to the database and enabling login to access the blog.

Use JavaScript and Ajax to submit registration data to a PHP script and display live success or error messages without refreshing, validating first name, last name, email, and password.

Implement a PHP validation and encryption flow: validate form inputs, hash passwords with password_hash, ensure unique emails, insert into the members table, and start a session to auto-login the user.

Create a login authentication flow for a members-only blog, validating email and password, showing errors on failures, redirecting successful logins to the blog, and including logout and registration options.

Repurpose the registration page into a login page, remove name fields, update button IDs, add login alert, and implement ajax login with a php check script that redirects on success.

Validate user email and password against the members database, verify with password_verify, start a session, set login data, and return true or false to the login page.

Enforce login authentication by checking the session at page start, redirecting unauthenticated users to the login page, and displaying a welcome message with the user's name and a logout link.

Terminate the user session by unsetting login variables, redirect to index.php with logout=true, and display a logout confirmation alert when the URL parameter is present, then test the login flow.

Create a contact page featuring an embedded Google map showing the address, display contact details, and a PHP and AJAX validated contact form that sends messages via PHP Mailer.

Enhance the contact form with id attributes and an error display, load jQuery, and implement an ajax submission to send_message.php, including client-side validation and success or error messaging.

Install and prepare the PHPMailer library for sending emails in a PHP project by downloading, extracting, renaming, and placing the folder in your project directory.

Create a PHP form handler that validates contact form data, sanitizes input with mysqli_real_escape_string, and sends email via PHPMailer over SMTP, with optional database setup for future submissions.

Migrate a members-only blog to a live production server by uploading files, importing the database, updating the connection strings, and testing login, registration, and the contact form.