• Set up a local test server with Apache/PHP/MySQL (on Windows -- not my choice, but I'm glad that now I've done it on Windows once.)
• Make a three-column CSS layout without tables
• Use sessions in PHP
• Use crypt() in PHP (thanks for the idea, Plans!)
• Use mysqldump
• Use a couple of MySQL administrative tools
• Lots of stuff regarding authentication using a database

It's been fun, and the website has come a long way, even though its outward appearance is pretty much the same as it was. (This is the real server, now. But not the real domain name yet.) Obviously, it's not finished yet, but try logging in using a couple of test records I made:

username: sallyjones
password: squash

or

username: joesmith
password: pumpkin

Notice how, once logged in, you stay logged in everywhere on the site, even if you refresh the page. Also notice how, once logged out, you can't log back in just by hitting the back button enough times. Yeah sessions!

There's also that little database admin thing I made, which is really pretty lame, but if you really want to try it, email me and I'll give you a username and password for it.

When I worked on the ride board, we didn't have to store passwords in our own database (we were authenticating somewhere else), and we never learned how to deal with a lot of this stuff. So I'm proud of myself for learning it on my own. Now, no more geek posts for a while, I promise.