Call to a member function bindParam() on a non-object - php

Question

I'm working a log-in script that I found on the web. (http://alias.io/2010/01/store-passwords-safely-with-php-and-mysql/)
As I was trying to make it work, I stumbled upon this error:
bool(false)
Fatal error: Call to a member function bindParam() on a non-object in /srv/disk3/1446018/www/askmephilosophy.co.nf/session.php on line 25
My code:
<?php
include('config.php');
// Establishing the connection:
$MyConnection = mysqli_connect('hostname', 'user', 'pass', 'database')
or die('An error has occured when you were trying to login. You can return to the main page
by clicking: here. <br />
If this error is consistent, please contact us.');
// Information provide by the user:
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password']; // Text version.
$StatementHandle = $MyConnection->prepare('
SELECT
hash
FROM Users
WHERE
username = :username
LIMIT 1
');
var_dump($StatementHandle);
$StatementHandle->bindParam(':username', $username);
$StatementHandle->execute();
$user = $StatementHandle->fetch(PDO::FETCH_OBJ);
// Hashing the password with its hash as the salt returns the same hash:
if(crypt($password, $user->hash) == $user->hash) {
echo 'You are logged in. Well, not actually. We only just confirmed that
our system works. This service\'ll cost you $1';
}
?>

Answer 1

your connection object is mysqli, you should use PDO to connect mysql like
$dsn = 'mysql:dbname=testdb;host=127.0.0.1';
$user = 'dbuser';
$password = 'dbpass';
try {
$dbh = new PDO($dsn, $user, $password);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo 'Connection failed: ' . $e->getMessage();
}