One time use of activation URL - php

Question

Hi I want to know how can I expire an activation link after 2 days sent tru email for my users who doesn't have their accounts activated yet.. My idea was to use COOKIES but I think its not possible to send COOKIES via email.. can I have some tips and other suggestion please? I've been searching for 6 days now...
Here is what I have so far
$con = new PDO("mysql:host=". db_host .";dbname=".db_name.'', db_username , db_password);
$con->setAttribute( PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION );
$c = $_GET['c'];
if($c == 1){
$imputText = $_GET['v'];
$imputKey = "3173aLASOf";
$blockSize = 128;
$mode ="M_CBC";
$es = new ES($imputText, $imputKey, $blockSize,$mode);
$dec=$es->decrypt();
$sql = "SELECT vtokn FROM tmp_user WHERE vtokn = :token LIMIT 1";
$stmt = $con->prepare( $sql );
$stmt->bindValue( "token", $dec, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmt->execute();
$sqlups = "UPDATE tmp_user SET conf = :c WHERE vtokn = :token AND conf= 0 LIMIT 1";
$stmtups = $con->prepare( $sqlups );
$stmtups->bindValue( "c", $_GET['c'], PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmtups->bindValue( "token", $dec, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmtups->execute();
$result = $stmt->fetchColumn();
$sqltmps = "SELECT tmstamp FROM tmp_user WHERE vtokn = :token LIMIT 1";
$stmttmps = $con->prepare( $sqltmps );
$stmttmps->bindValue( "token", $dec, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmttmps->execute();
$result2 = $stmttmps->fetchColumn();
$tme =time()+60*2;
setcookie('exp','d',$result2);
if(isset($_COOKIE['exp']) ){
if($result === $dec){
$sqltb = "SELECT * FROM tmp_user WHERE vtokn = :token LIMIT 1";
$stmttb = $con->prepare( $sqltb );
$stmttb->bindValue( "token", $dec, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmttb->execute();
foreach ($stmttb->fetchAll() as $rows) {
$user=$rows['username'];
$password=$rows['password'];
$firstname=$rows['firstname'];
$lastname=$rows['lastname'];
}
$sql2 = "INSERT INTO ofcl_users(email,password,acct_stat) VALUES( :username,:password,1 )";
$stmt2 = $con->prepare( $sql2 );
$stmt2->bindValue( "username", $user, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmt2->bindValue( "password", $password, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmt2->execute();
echo $user." "."Is Now Activated<br/>" . "<a href='login.php'>Login Now</a>";
$sqldel = "DELETE FROM tmp_user WHERE vtokn = :token AND conf= :c LIMIT 1";
$stmtdel = $con->prepare( $sqldel );
$stmtdel->bindValue( "c", $_GET['c'], PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmtdel->bindValue( "token", $dec, PDO::PARAM_STR );
$stmtdel->execute();
}else
{
echo "Account was already activated" . $dec;
}
} else {
echo $_GET['t']."Token Expired" . $tme;
}
}
else
{
echo "Invalid Token Reference: " . $dec;
}
This script will run as soon as my link tru email was click the validation if its a link that is a 2 or 3 days old.. Is this correct?

Answer 1

Make use of Timestamp.
When Inserting a Token, make another field in database, say token_timestamp and use time() function for its value.
Then, at the time of Validating Activation Link, make a check something like this:
$current_time = time();
$max_time = 2*24*60*60; // Time in seconds
if (($current_time - $token_timestamp) > $max_time) {
echo "Link Expired!";
}
else {
// Do your Process for Activation here
}