Kentico CMS provides a way to create secured site sections that can only be viewed by users who have a valid user name and password. This topic describes how to create a logon page for the purposes of user authentication and registration, as well as a secured page accessible only by logged in users.

 

Adding the secured partners page

 

Start by adding a new secured page that requires authentication:

 

1. Go to CMS Desk -> Content. Select the root of the content tree (My website) and click New.

 

2. Choose the Page (menu item) document type.

 

3. Type in Partners as the Page name and choose the Use existing page template option. Select the My website category and the Left menu with right text page template. This page reuses the template originally created for the website's Services page.

 

4. Click Save to create the page.

 

5. Select the Page tab and type the following text into the editable region: This is a secured page for partners.

 

6. Click Save.

 

7. Open the Properties -> Security tab of the Partners document.

 

8. Select Yes for the Requires authentication property in the Access section at the bottom of the dialog and click OK.

 

This ensures that only authenticated (logged in) users can access the page.

 

Creating the logon page

 

Now we will build a page where users can sign in to the website and anonymous visitors can register as new users.

 

Preparing the source files

 

1. Edit your web project in Visual Studio, right-click the CMSTemplates/MySite folder in the Solution Explorer and click Add new item.

 

2. Create a Web Form named LogonPage.aspx and check the Select master page box.

 

3. Click Add and choose the MyMaster.master page from the CMSTemplates/MySite folder.

 

4. Enter the following HTML layout code into the <asp:Content> element on the page:

 

 

5. Switch to the Design view and drag the following web parts (user controls) from the Solution Explorer into the left and right columns respectively:

 

•~/CMSWebParts/Membership/Logon/LogonForm.ascx

•~/CMSWebParts/Membership/Registration/RegistrationForm.ascx

 

 

6. Set the following properties for the controls:

 

LogonForm:

 

 

RegistrationForm:

 

 

7. Switch to the code behind of the logon page (LogonPage.aspx.cs) and add a reference to the CMS.UIControls namespace:

 

[C#]

 

 

[VB.NET]

 

 

8. Change the class definition so that it inherits from the TemplatePage class:

 

[C#]

 

 

[VB.NET]

 

 

9. Save the files.

 

Registering the logon page template

 

1. Go to Site Manager -> Development -> Page templates.

 

2. Select the My website category and click New template.

 

3. Type Logon page into the Template display name field and click Save.

 

4. Set the following values on the General tab:

 

•Template type: ASPX page

•File name: ~/CMSTemplates/MySite/LogonPage.aspx

 

5. Click Save.

 

6. Switch to the Sites tab and assign the page template to My website.

 

Adding the logon page document

 

1. Go to CMS Desk -> Content. Select the root of the content tree (My website) and click New.

 

2. Choose the Folder document type.

 

3. Type in Special pages as the Document name and click Save.

 

4. Click New again and select the Page (menu item) document type.

 

5. Type in Logon as the Page name and choose the Use existing page template option. Select the My website category and the Logon page template.

 

6. Click Save to create the page.

 

Because you placed the Logon page under a folder, it does not show up in the website's navigation menu. The menu control on the master page is configured to only display documents of the Page (menu item) type. You can use folders to store pages that have a specific purpose, but are not part of the website's regular content.

 

Setting the website's logon page

 

When an anonymous visitor attempts to access a secured page that requires authentication (such as the Partners page on your sample website), the system redirects them to a logon page. By default, websites use the system page that appears when signing into CMS Desk. However, you can configure each website to use its own custom logon page.

 

1. Go to Site Manager -> Settings and click the Security & Membership category in the settings tree.

 

2. Select My website in the Site drop-down menu.

 

3. Uncheck the Inherit from global settings box next to the Website logon page URL setting and type in ~/Special-pages/Logon.aspx. This is the relative URL of the logon page that you added to the website.

 

4. Click Save.

 

 

The website's logon page is now ready.

 

Adding a sign out button to the website

 

The website now allows users to log in, so you should also provide a way to log out. You can do this by adding components to the website's master page.

 

1. Open your web project in Visual Studio and edit the MyMaster.master master page (in the CMSTemplates/MySite folder).

 

2. Switch to the Design view and drag the following web parts (user controls) from the ~/CMSWebParts/Membership/Logon/ folder in the Solution Explorer and place them before the CMSMenu control (inside the <div class="MainMenu"> element):

 

•SignOutButton.ascx

•CurrentUser.ascx

 

 

3. Set the following properties for the controls:

 

SignOutButton:

 

 

CurrentUser:

 

 

4. Save the changes.

 

5. Go to Site Manager -> Development -> CSS Stylesheets and edit () the My site stylesheet.

 

6. Add the following class definitions to the stylesheet:

 

 

7. Click Save.

 

The Sign out button and CurrentUser control are now visible for signed in users on all pages on the website.

 

Result - Logging in to the website

 

Now that you have added the logon page, secured section and sign out button to the website, you can test the new functionality from the perspective of a live site user.

 

1. Sign out of Site Manager so you can view the website as a public visitor.

 

2. Click Partners in the main menu. The logon page appears.

 

 

3. Log in as the administrator again or try registering a new account. After you sign in successfully, the site automatically redirects you back to the Partners page.

 

 

Here you can see the content of the secured page, as well as the name of the current user and the Sign Out button.

 

 

This concludes the creation of the sample website.