Question

I have a PHP site that works great….as long as there are no network disruptions. im having problems with users, especially on iPad’s and laptops, that log in, and work within the site without submitting any data for a prolonged length of time (maybe an hour or so). They type a bunch of notes in, and when they submit they are sent to the logon screen and what they worked on for that hour is lost. I’m getting used to dirty looks…
My research as shown that maybe using cookies will help the issue. security is not a huge concern, so storing usernames and hashed password within cookies is not a big threat. but i never worked with cookies and don’t know where to really begin. my objective is to have any user be able to log in, start typing in a text area, move throughout the building, maybe dropping their internet connection and picking it back up, and be able to submit the form after with no errors. any ideas? thanks in advance…

Answer 1

Sounds like your session is simply expiring, nothing to do with changing internet connection or Wifi AP.

Change the default PHP session expiry with PHP, or change the php.ini setting:

ini_set("session.cookie_lifetime","3600"); //an hour

The default session handler works by setting a session ID cookie on the client. With each page request, the session ID will be sent. If the session expires, the cookie will be deleted and thus the client will be shown the login screen.

That’s assuming you are using the default PHP session handler (you didn’t say). If that’s not the problem, then it would point to a problem in your code, for example if you are trying to prevent session hijacking by comparing IP addresses (which will change as the user moves from AP to AP).