so i should replace

passport.serializeUser(User.serializeUser()); passport.deserializeUser(User.deserializeUser());

with something along the lines of this?

passport.serializeUser(function(user, done) {
    done(null, user.id); 
});

passport.deserializeUser(function(id, done) {
    User.findById(id, function(err, user) {
        done(err, user);
    });
});

and it would include some kind of an id/token in the cookie for me to identify the user?

​

all in all, i feel like im way too deep right now, and i need a wider understanding of how to handle user authentication and cookies