I am trying to develop a permission based [login and password required]
section of my website for downloads of free photography I'm putting on
the web. I want people to be able to view the index of small files [there
are several indices because each country has its own set of pages]
without a login but  not be able to access the larger jpg files without
logging in.   

I'm going to set up the password to be sent automatically to a valid
email address. What I'm trying to figure out is the best way to set this
up logistically.  and a general set of principles I should be trying to
apply.  

1st question:  should I, or do I need to, put all large files in a
separate directory from the index which corresponds to it? Or should I
just hide the pages and images by making them .php and dynamically created?   

There will be two ways of entering. The first is by logging in as a
member in the global index page.  BUT : a person can also go to the 
global gallery index.html and click to see a specific country index.html
with thumbnail pictures.  Now, there are many ways of getting to the
larger images - each thumbnail would link to a specific, larger html page
with a corresponding image.  
 
Is there a way that I can check each click and see if the user is logged
in as a member and allow the page, and if not - take them to the log in
page and then send them to their requested link upon login? 
 
I'll be using MySql to store the passwords and usernames. 

-- 
Jefferis Kent Peterson
www.PetersonSales.net
Flash, Web Design and Marketing 
ICQ 19112253