Purpose: Personalise the site for users and monitor users.

Elements:

Login page - Allows users to enter a username and password, this is authenticated against a database. User ID number is then stored in session data which is then available for use in all pages. This number can be used to access all the customer's information.

Logout - Allows users to log out, this page removes the stored session information.

Notes on logging out: Users are automatically logged out when they close the browser window. If they leave the site and then return they are NOT automatically logged out.

Registration page - User information is collected and added to the database. The username is checked to be unique, if not, the user is requested to entere a different username without having to re-enter any other information. This page can (and to confirm with recomended standards should) include an option to authorise the use of their personal data for communication (marketing or otherwise).

Unsubscribe page - User's username and password are removed from the system to prevent the user logging in, other actions are dependant on client requirements. If the user has made online purchases, then it is recommended that the user information is kept incase it is required when reviewing purchases.

Features & benefits:

To tailor the site to the visitors needs, we need to know who the visitor is. The easiest way to do that is for the user to login. Once a user has logged in, all the information associated with that user is then available to be used as required.

Additional benefits of your users registering is that you can start to build a customer mailing list which can be invaluable for e-marketing purposes.