Question

I have made a login system with 3 different classes of users. My requirement is that each user has a different menu (control bar).

How should I design this

1. Using the same page by using php call

   if(user('student')='true') 
       echo "unordered list";
   else if(user('admin')=='true')
       echo "admin menu";
   

2. By using 3 different pages for each user and restricting if a different class user tries to access it.

Answer 1

Well I personally think that hiding links based on access level is a very weak form of security, on the other hand maintaining 3 different pages could be problematic on the long run.

I’d say on your menu you need to do something like:

switch userType
    case 'admin':
        include 'admin_menu.html'
        break;
    case 'student':
        include 'student_menu.html'
        break;

and on each of the pages you should check that the current user has access to reach it, in case a student manages to guess the url to an admin page