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