How to implement user profiles on a website? Just sign in through Google?

[cohen990]

I don't quite know if this is the right place *ahem*

This is my first web development project and I am building an online community and want to implement user profiles.

My question is twofold.

Firsly, if I decide to implement my own, how do I keep track of who is who while they are on my site? They register and their details are passed into my database but how then do I know who they are when they try to visit their profile page or post a comment?

Secondly, exactly how do I handle the security issue? I've read a little about hashing/encryption but I'm treading new waters and not sure what to do. Any advice (even if its 'suck it in and use google/facebook sign in') is so appreciated.


cohen990

[Steve Smith]

Creating a website that allows users to create profiles is a great way to keep visitors engaged and on the website. These types of websites are more online community-oriented. Users register, get sign-in credentials and then can manage what information they provide to the rest of the online community. The first websites like this required significant development. With the advent of open source content management systems (CMS), website communities are far quicker to setup.