Using vBulletin Cookies Outside the Fourms

[thorin]

I want to use the login cookie method for security outside of my forums area. What do I need to have in my files to make this happen? I am running in 100% php so this should be a pretty simple one for you guru's.

Here are the details:

The forums are located in a directory below the main site: "http://www.site.com/users/forums"
I want a login prompt at "http://www.site.com" and then proceed to "/users" once they have logged in using the vubulletin user db.

[Neo]

I dont thing so. Unless you set up a multi domain cookie but it could be very un-secure.

[thorin]

It is all ONE domain.

http://www.site.com
"/users" and "/users/forums" are all directories below "site.com"

[Logician]

I want to use the login cookie method for security outside of my forums area.

cookies are neither good nor sufficient tools for security. What if user disabled cookies in vb settings or in his browser settings?

If you need to secure your non-vb pages according to vb user/usergroup info, give WebTemplates hack a shot.

[thorin]

WOW man, nice work, but its a lot more than I need. Do you have a stripped down script to do this? I don't need to be able to edit the pages and that from the forums, just the login prompt if they haven't logged in already.

[Logician]

I dont have a "light" version but I think it's not necessary either. I know the hack seems complicated but in fact it is not. After installation, all you have to do is to click ADD WEBTEMPLATE button, give it a name and copy/paste your non-vb page's source code inside it. Then put [cantsee]0 1 3[/cantsee] tag inside your webtemplate and you are done.

Now only your registered members (who also verified his email) can see your webtemplate, if he is not a member or he is a logged off member, webtemplate will automatically display him the login/register screen.

So it is really very easy to use..

[thorin]

hmm, do you have a working example of this somewhere I can see, I don't quite understand how the template is incorporated into my php files. I have 3 files per page, one is the header inculude, the other is the footer include and then the contents. so would the pages become dynamic?

[Logician]

You tell me what do you have in your PHP file (content) and I'll tell you if you can convert it to a webtemplate.

Webtemplate hack comes with 2 default webtemplates "header" and "footer". You can customize them as you like then you add $header and $footer variables into your other webtemplates to include headers and footers to them.

As for the content page: If it is a static HTML page, all you have to do is to copy/paste its source code and now it becomes a webtemplate. Of course it's address changes: you now call it as yourboardurl/show.php?pg=yourtemplatename

If it's a dynamic PHP page which makes queries to MYSQL and get/post results on the fly, you can convert most of your queries to "webqueries" and insert into your webtemplates. For example if you have a query to list last 10 registered users of your board in your PHP file, you create a webquery named "_last10users", form the SELECT code and then insert "$_last10users" variable in any place in your webtemplate and while it's parsed it will retrieve data from MYSQL and automatically list the last 10 users.

But if your PHP does more than that (eg. gets/list 10 item from db, then puts a link to get 10 more) you may not do it with the hack.

There are some screenshots in the hack thread. If you want more, tell me what screenshot you exactly want.

[thorin]

All the content is plain html, nothing fancy, I would like to get more in there as far as dynamics (how many people on the board, hot threads and last thread, newest member....etc) but that will come later, but I am thinking this will do it all, I am just a little warry about how it will work out, I don't have time to be a php programmer, but enough time to make it work the first time, its a tuff mulit-hat job I have.

[thorin]

so a page url would look like "site.com/index.php?pagename"