where's my log in

[quickstraw91]

installed xampp on win7 and installed wordpress. i secured mysql xampp and phpmyadmin. when i connect to localhost am i supposed to get a login screen? i don't but if i click on phpmyadmin i do get a login window. not sure whats supposed to happen with connecting to localhost.
if you can help i'd appreciate it.thanks.
Bryan

[JJ_Tagy]

Should you get a login window? Yes and no. The key here is to identify what you just did.

When you secured XAMPP at the security page, it created an .htaccess file which protects xampp\htdocs\xampp folder which translates to http://localhost/xampp/. It doesn't affect anything else in xampp\htdocs which translates to http://localhost/.

[quickstraw91]

i'm lost. i don't get a login screen with either of those links. i'm missing something in your explanation. i guess its a function of my age.
please help by saying exactly what url should have a log in window. right now in xampp security; passwords can be changed by some one other than me; i think.
thanks.

[JJ_Tagy]

You mentioned that you secured xampp. Assuming you did this through the security link from the xampp admin page, it should behave as described above. If not, then I should ask how you secured it. Go to http://localhost/xampp/ and select "security" from the navigation pane.

What makes you think that passwords can be changed by someone else?

[quickstraw91]

yup, its secured. says so when i go to localhost xampp security. perhaps i'm misunderstanding what secured means. i took a look at security page and see it is not visible outside of "my" localhost. so that's good and i deduce from that i don't need to log in every time i link to there as i've logged in once and the server knows me; as i have http security so therefore no one can access that page other than me. Correct?
thanks for your help.

[JJ_Tagy]

No one outside your local machine should be able to access that folder. As for why you don't need to log in every time - there are a few possible reasons. Perhaps you logged in the first time and your browser cached your access. Perhaps you still had another browser open also caching your login. To test, you could close all browsers, stop and restart Apache. Then try to access the page again.

[quickstraw91]

ok, i did what you suggested and although xampp security page says only localhost can access that page i can click and link to page that changes and sets root password and mysql password? can others non invited people be able to do that? i don't want to start working on wordpress till i know i can access it securely.
thanks. was busy all day today, sorry for late reply.

[JJ_Tagy]

The security page is located in your xampp\security\htdocs folder. If you look in there, you should find a .htaccess file which restricts access to that folder also.

One sure way to check if you still aren't sure: try to access from another computer or mobile device.