Newby question on Login type software

I don't really know how to ask this question since I'm a total newby. I've been working on web design for about a year now. Just on my own, not a pro or nothing. Basically I just sat down one day and wanted to learn and I've been going since. My question is I want some sort of program (don't really know how to label it) so that when I log onto my home page I can see all the members that are presently online or logged onto the webpage or when they were last logged on. Also, I have a download page that people can download simple video's and stuff (we adventure race). I would like to make that page so that people must log on to download, that way I can see who is downloading and possibly what (out of sheer curiosity). In addition would it be to hard to somehow create a counter so that i can see how many "hits" each link gets.
I have Dreamweaver MX 2004, but maybe in the market for fresh software if what I'm trying to do requires it.

Thanks ahead of time.

Everything that you've described can be done through PHP, JSP, or a combination of things. PHP would probably be the ideal programming language to use to develop a site that does exactly what you're specifying.

You don't need any new software, as PHP does not require a compiler (unlike C/C++, etc.) in order to be active. You will need to have your host (the server that you will upload the web site to) configured so that it utilizes PHP.

Have you thought about using a Content Management System (CMS)? Basically a CMS runs on a database, allows you (the administrator) access to myriad things, and most CMS's also have some sort of statistical program integrated with them so that you can see things like: who's online, what page has gotten the most clicks, etc.

A lot of the time you wont even need a CMS to get statistics, as many web hosting providers offer a service (usually through a program called AwStats, or a similiar program), that will allow you to view all of the data and information on your site (end-user information that would not generally be accessable to the public).

CMS's fully support login systems, as a login system would be using SQL as it's backbone. SQL (Structured Query Language) is used simply for querying databases. You can build a database for user names, or you can have a blank database that takes user input from the outsiders perspective (e.g. - if I went to your site and you had a box where I could register/sign up, then your database could take my login information and dispense it into whatever table that is assigned to the records). If you were to build a database with static logins, you could do that as well, but then - only the names attached in the database would be able to access the data in the "Downloads" section, as you described. Your best bet would be to go with the former.

I should note that you will need to setup a SQL server to test your database offline, or develop your site solely online so that you can test it. As PHP/SQL and other languages (such as ASP, and ColdFusion) don't run on static pages, they require a server in order for them to produce their results.

I hope this helps a bit.

basically. get a host that supports PHP and allows you to have MYSQL databases. you MAY have to look into buying one and paying a small monthly fee, but you may be able to find a free one.

next. learn php. if you have no idea what HTML is, then you're a bit screwed and you must really learn HTML first (dreamweaver works if you know how to use it). but learn php. whatever you said you wanted to do in your post, can easily be done in php.

learning php is hard, but once you understand how you can use it and why you would use it, it becomes very easy. it took me over a week to find out what php was and why bothering to use it. i'm glad i found out.

i built a database driven site after a month of learning php.

check out this site for introductions to it and also these sites:
http://www.oxyscripts.com/cat-2.html
http://www.olate.com/articles/category/3
http://www.spoono.com/php/tutorials/
http://phpbuilder.com/snippet/
http://codewalkers.com/code.php
http://hotscripts.com/
http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/index.phtml/fid/13

all of those are great sites.

hope this helps

The host I have does support Php and has MYSQL database. Thanks for the websites. I don't really know html very well. I'll sort through those sites and learn the php and proly try to pick up on some html. In a nutshell, that's exactly what I need. A place to find things when I have a question. I think those will work great. Thanks again guys.