Question

I am trying to create an activation page so the when the user clicks on their activation link, it will navigate the user to the activate.php page and display a message stating wether the account is activated or not.

The problem I have is that it keeps displaying the message “The Code and Username doesn’t match! Account is not Activated.” It does not display the successful message “Account is Activated” at all, even though the activation link has been clicked on.

Also the “Active” column in the database should change to “1” if the correct username and code has been identified, but it still keeps displaying “0”, meaning account is still inactive.

What my question is that why isn’t it recognising that the username and activation code is correct?

Below is the registration.php script where it inserts the user’s registration details and sends the activation link by email:

$teacherpassword = md5(md5("j3j".$teacherpassword."D2n"));  
$code = md5(rand(1,9));

$insertsql = "
INSERT INTO Teacher
(TeacherForename, TeacherSurname, TeacherEmail, TeacherAlias, TeacherUsername, TeacherPassword, Code)
VALUES
(?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)
";
if (!$insert = $mysqli->prepare($insertsql)) {
// Handle errors with prepare operation here
}                                           

$insert->bind_param("sssssss", $getfirstname, $getsurname,
$getemail, $getid, $getuser,
$teacherpassword, $code);

$insert->execute();

if ($insert->errno) {
// Handle query error here
}

$insert->close();

    $getuser = $_POST['user'];
    $code = md5(rand(1,9));

    $site = "http://helios.hud.ac.uk/......../Mobile_app";
    $webmaster = "Mayur Patel <[e-mail]>";
    $headers = "From: $webmaster";
    $subject = "Activate Your Account";
    $message = "Thanks for Registering. Click the link below to Acivate your Account. \n";
    $message .= "$site/activate.php?user=$getuser&code=$code\n";
    $message .= "You must Activate your Account to Login";

    if(mail($getemail, $subject, $message, $headers)){
    $errormsg = "You have been Registered. You must Activate your Account from the Activation Link sent to <b>$getemail</b>";
    $getfirstname = "";
    $getsurname = "";
    $getid = "";
    $getuser = "";
    $getemail = "";
    }

Below is the activate.php page where it checks the activation link and performs the mysqli operations and display the messages:

 <?php
    $user_to_be_activated  =   $_GET['user'];
    $code_to_be_matched   =   $_GET['code'];


    // don't use $mysqli->prepare here
    $query = "SELECT TeacherUsername, Active, Code FROM Teacher WHERE TeacherUsername = ? AND Code = ? ";
    // prepare query
    $stmt=$mysqli->prepare($query);
    // You only need to call bind_param once
    $stmt->bind_param("ss",$user_to_be_activated, $code_to_be_matched);
    // execute query
    $stmt->execute(); 
    // get result and assign variables (prefix with db)
    $stmt->bind_result($dbTeacherUsername, $dbActive, $dbCode);
    //get number of rows
    $stmt->store_result();
    $counting = $stmt->num_rows();

    if($counting == '1')
    {

   $updatesql = "UPDATE Teacher SET Active = ? WHERE TeacherUsername = ? AND Code = ?";                                         
    $update = $mysqli->prepare($updatesql);
    $update->bind_param("iss", 1, $user_to_be_activated, $code_to_be_matched);
        $update->execute();
        $update->close();

        echo "Account is Activated";
    }
    else
    {
        echo "The Code and Username doesn't match! Account is not Activated.";
    }

        ?>

I just want it to be able to activate the account when the link has been clicked for the first time.

Answer 1

Got it, the error is here:

$update->bind_param(“iss”, 1, $user_to_be_activated, $code_to_be_matched);

simply it doesnt pass 1 and im not sure why it doesnt show you an error.

so you can just put that number 1 into a variable and than use it in your sql code like this:

so whole code:

   $code_activated = 1;

// don't use $mysqli->prepare here
    $query = "SELECT TeacherUsername, Active, Code FROM Teacher WHERE TeacherUsername = ? AND Code = ? ";
    // prepare query
    $stmt=$mysqli->prepare($query);
    // You only need to call bind_param once
    $stmt->bind_param("ss",$user_to_be_activated, $code_to_be_matched);
    // execute query
    $stmt->execute(); 
    // get result and assign variables (prefix with db)
    $stmt->bind_result($dbTeacherUsername, $dbActive, $dbCode);
    //get number of rows
    $stmt->store_result();
    $counting = $stmt->num_rows();

    if($counting == '1')
    {

   $updatesql = "UPDATE Teacher SET Active = ? WHERE TeacherUsername = ? AND Code = ?";                                         
    $update = $mysqli->prepare($updatesql);
    $update->bind_param("sss", $code_activated, $user_to_be_activated,  $code_to_be_matched);
        $update->execute() or die(mysql_error());
        $update->close();

        echo "Account is Activated";
    }
    else
    {
        echo "The Code and Username doesn't match! Account is not Activated.";
    }

You can test here:

http://design05.comuf.com/avtivate.php

with following details:

user: master

code: bbb111

http://design05.comuf.com/avtivate.php?user=master&code=bbb111

user:admin

code: abc123

http://design05.comuf.com/avtivate.php?user=admin&code=abc123

and of course try some wrong ones.