Help! I've installed and I can't log in!

Recently, a few folks have had trouble logging into PMM's NewsCMS after installation. The symptoms appear to be that one enters the correct credentials for authentication but no matter what you do it never works.

The problem seems to be caused (in most cases) by a difference in MySQL versions. This shouldn't be a problem, but it requires a quick fix. Later versions of PMM will have an installer feature that fixes this issue.

The issue is caused by the system having been written under MySQL 3. MySQL 4 handles PASSWORD() encrypted values differently than version 3 did. MySQL 4+ uses more characters for encrypted passwords than previous versions, so it can cause the `password` field to be too short, rendering the data in that field completely useless, and causing the login to fail even if you've entered the proper credentials.

So the trick is to update the password. There are two ways of going about this:

1. Using a MySQL manager such as phpMyAdmin, edit the `password` field in the `newsusers` table. Enter a new password for the row containing the user name "admin", making sure to select "PASSWORD" as the function to apply to the new data in the `password` field. Save the record and try again.

2. Using the MySQL command line interface, update the password with an SQL statement as follows: "UPDATE newsusers SET password = PASSWORD( 'your_password_here' ) WHERE user = 'admin'". Then try logging in again.

Updating the MySQL PASSWORD function should bring it up to speed with whatever version you're using.

Good luck, and don't let the piano lid fall on your digits.