The PHP Every Day site has just posted a whole new list of tutorials that might interest Zend Framework developers:

• Zend Framework Login: Creating Switching for Front Page
• Zend Framework Login: Creating Logout
• Zend Framework Login: Protected Page
• Zend Framework Login: Fatal error Cannot use object of type stdClass as array
• Zend Framework Login: Creating Authentication
• Zend Framework Login: Creating Form Login
• Zend Framework Login: Preparing Database

Check out their site (or grab their feed) for more PHP-related articles and tutorials.

In a new entry on his blog today, Matthew looks to answer and help those once and for all wondering how to handle user authentication and persistence in their Zend Framework applications.

The typical issue is that they're unsure how to combine: an authentication adapter, a login form, a controller for login/logout actions and checking for an authenticated user in subsequent requests. It's not terribly difficult, but it does require knowing how the various pieces of the MVC fit together, and how to use Zend_Auth. Let's take a look.

He gives the complete code for a loin controller to cover most of that functionality and an example showing how to check for and keep track of which users have been authenticated.

Jonathan Snook has posted a helpful trick for CakePHP users out there looking to secure sections of their site away from "normal users" and keep it only in the hands of the admins.

I just wanted to document this for easy future reference but if you don't want to hook up a complex user adminstration with authorization components, you can simply specify that the admin path be password protected in either your .htaccess file or in your httpd.conf.

This method is actually one of the built-in methods Apache has for restricting access (http authentication) that he's placed on his "/admin" directory. Call htpasswd to create the password file and you're all set to go.

On PHPGeek.com, there's a new post talking about the use of the AuthComponent for CakePHP for access control in your application. It's not a tutorial, but it does follow how the developer came upon the component and why they're using it.

Nearly everything that is built needs at least some level of authentication and authorization before users can be let loose to use it. Unfortunately, not only is there a lot of confusion out there on how to use it, but lots of poorly done, reinvented wheels out there because of it.

He points out the solution he came across via another article from the "Another Cake Baker" blog (lemoncake) show how to use the component for ACL in CakePHP 1.2.