I would advise an upgrade to php5, classes are needed for any large system.

Here is how I create my login systems. I set two cookies, one is the users ID and the other is their encrypted password. Then I have a function in the header file (if I cant use classes) to authenticate the user by matching the ID and password in the database. If the two match, the user is legit. If confirmed I then take the users rank and other info if needed from the database.

I would give you the code I use, but it needs php5 due to its oop features.

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