prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username"); //building a statement & getting the whole line of username = $username $result = $statement->execute(array('username' => $username)); $user = $statement->fetch(); //putting the stuff in an array and afterwards store it in the session: $_SESSION['userid'] = $user['id']; $_SESSION['email'] = $user['email']; $_SESSION['username'] = $user['username']; $_SESSION['givenName'] = $user['givenName']; $_SESSION['lastName'] = $user['lastName']; $_SESSION['activated'] = $user['activated']; $_SESSION['updated_at'] = $user['updated_at']; $_SESSION['isadmin'] = $user['isadmin']; ?>