php seems not to receive values from forms (post and get) - php

Question

I'm trying to create a login and logout system. Everything works fine until I try to send hidden value (at the end) to log out. User would "submit" hidden value "logout" but it seems that the value is not send. I tried already different to approach this problem but either I am always getting errors message (but the code works) or I'm not getting errors message but it does not work.
<section>
<h2>Zaloguj się do systemu</h2>
<?php
//$username;
//$password;
if(empty($_SESSION['userpass']) && empty($_POST['pass'])){
//create a log in form if no one is log in
echo "
<form method='post' action='./indexLogin.php'>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Urzytkownik:</td>
<td><input type='text' name='name'/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hasło:</td>
<td><input type='password' name='pass'/></td>
</tr>
</table>
<input type='submit' value='Wyślij'>
</form>
"; //end of echo
}
else if(empty($_SESSION['userpass']) && !empty($_POST['pass'])){
//echo the user name and his password
$userName = $_POST['name'];
$password = $_POST['pass'];
echo "Nastąpiło poprawne zalogowanie do systemu";
//save user password to session
$_SESSION['username'] = $userName;
$_SESSION['userpass'] = $password;
}
//problem starts here
else{
if($_POST['logout'] == true){
session_destroy();
echo "Nastąpiło poprawne wylogowanie z systemu";
}
else{
echo "Jesteś zalogowany jako: ".$_SESSION['username'];
echo "
<form method='post' action='./indexLogin.php'>
Do you want to log out?<br/>
<input type='hidden' name='logout' value='true'>
<input type='submit' value='Wyloguj'>
</form>
";
}
}
?>
when I use this code I get no error message but it does not work
//problem starts here
else{
if(!empty($_POST['pass'])){
//confirmation that log out was successful
//$_POST['logout'];
session_destroy();
echo "Nastąpiło poprawne wylogowanie z systemu";
}
else{
//form to log out
echo "Jesteś zalogowany jako: ".$_SESSION['username'];
echo "
<form method='post' action='./indexLogin.php'>
Czy chesz się wylogować?<br/>
<input type='hidden' name='logout' value='1'>
<input type='submit' value='Wyloguj'>
</form>
";
}
}
what I did as was was that I replaced post method with get. And what I found was that even if the value was in url it still did not work! I seemed that it never receive any value so it uses the last else.

Answer 1

First thing to check is that you actually have PHP >= 4.1 . In older PHP $_GET and $_POST just non-existent.
Second thing to check is actually print_r contents of your $_REQUEST (it is combination of $_GET and $_POST and $_COOKIE) and see if some data actually makes it to your script.
Third: I have executed your script on my host and ended up in "else if" branch. Clearly there no issue with your script but issue with the way your host handles requests. Are you on shared host? Some shared hosts have superglobals switched off intentionally and then you need to use $GLOBALS["_POST"] instead of $_POST
And of course use session_start()

Answer 2

actually your code seems to work, but you should enable your session with
session_start();
before your code. I was then able to submit the login credentials and to logout.
Cheers,