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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-16T21:35:47+00:00

I am trying to create something like a lock and unlock pages feature. The

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I am trying to create something like a lock and unlock pages feature. The user has to go thorugh the pages in this order:

$steps = array(1 =>'create_session.php',2 => 'QandATable.php',3 => 'individualmarks.php',4 => 'penalty.php',5 => 'penaltymarks',6 => 'complete.php');

So what should happen is that if the user is on a page a they SHOULD BE on, then that page shold be unlocked (or in other words the if statement is met where it shows the page’s code), if the user accesses a page which they should not be on, then that page beocmes locked (the else statement is met where it displays the div with the Continue hyperlink`).

The problem is that even though the user is on the correct page, the page is still “locked” when it should be unlocked so the user can use the page. At moment all pages accessed are locked so my question is that how can I unlock a page when the user is on a correct page?

Below is an example create_session.php:

 <?php
session_start();
include ('steps.php'); //exteranlised steps.php
?>
<head>
...

</head>
<body>

<?php
if ((isset($username)) && (isset($userid))) { //checks if user is logged in
    if (allowed_in() === "Allowed") {
        //create_session.php code:
    } else {
        $page = allowed_in() + 1;
?>
 <div class="boxed">
<a href="<?php echo $steps[$page] ?>">Continue with Current Assessment</a>
<?php
    }

} else {
    echo "Please Login to Access this Page | <a href='./teacherlogin.php'>Login</a>";
    //show above echo if user is not logged in
}
?>

Below is the full steps.php:

<?php

$steps = array(1 =>'create_session.php',2 => 'QandATable.php',3 => 'individualmarks.php',4 => 'penalty.php',5 => 'penaltymarks',6 => 'complete.php');

function allowed_in($steps = array()){
// Track $latestStep in either a session variable
// $currentStep will be dependent upon the page you're on

if(isset($_SESSION['latestStep'])){
   $latestStep = $_SESSION['latestStep'];
}
else{
   $latestStep = 0;
}
$currentStep = basename(__FILE__); 

$currentIdx = array_search($currentStep, $steps);
$latestIdx = array_search($latestStep, $steps);

if ($currentIdx - $latestIdx == 1 )
    {
       $currentIdx = $_SESSION['latestStep'];
       return 'Allowed';
    }
    return $latestIdx;
}

?>
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Keep it simple, seems that you are over complicating the goal. It seems like you simply want to ensure that the user completes previous steps of a process before they can continue on to the next. Why not try something more like…

    // General Idea
$completedArr = array('1' => false, '2' => false ...);
$pageMap = array('page1.php' => '1', 'page2.php' => '2' ...);

// On Page1
$completedArr = $_SESSION['completedArr'];
$locked = true;
$currentStep = $pageMap[$_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']];  // '1'
if($currentStep > 1)
{
    if($completedArr[$currentStep - 1] === true)
        $locked = false;
}
else
{
    $locked = false;
}

$completedArr[$currentStep] = true;
$_SESSION['completedArr'] = $completedArr;

    Use this as needed for continuous pages also. The idea is that the pageMap you would define to give index numbers to script names. Then you would simply check to see that the previous index was marked as completed before “unlocking” this page.

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