Simple vB User login and access control on non vB pages

Hack Description

This is a cutdown version of the user authentication and access control system I use on the non vB pages on my website.

This uses the vB 3.5 login system to log you in and out. It allows you to move between your forums and other pages on your site while remaining logged in.

It allows you to do things such as restrict pages by usergroup, display different content depending on a user being logged in or not.
For example, you can have banner Adds displying to non members only, and/or let members access to specific content.

Ive cut it down to the bare minimum that it needs to work, no fancy stuff such as avatars, PM's, or even formating.

I will try and offer support, but work and family commitments mean I dont have much free time.

This code is a mix of my own, and pieces I have used from other hacks that are floating around.

This script has been confirmed as working on

• vB 3.5.x - All Versions

Changelog

Version 1.30 (24th April 2007)

• Fixed - // in paths bug
• Fixed - Javascript warning in some browsers
• Fixed - Tidied up some code

Version 1.20 (2nd December 2006)

• Fixed Logout incorrect path bug
• Made change to reduce compatibility problems with foreign scripts

Version 1.10 (4th Feb 2006)

• Changed login_inc.php so you only need to edit path in one place now.
• Added more commenting to login_inc.php
• Added usage instructions to instructions file
• Added troubleshooting guide with all common problems and fixes to instructions file.

Note: It is NOT necessary to update from 1.0 to 1.10.
There is no functionality changes or bug fixes between these 2 releases.

Version 1.0 (17th November 2005)

• Initial Release

Deluxe Version of this hack is now available
Has Avatars, PM's, Number of Posts etc.

Click Here


Click on Install
If you have this script installed then please click on the install link because;

• You will get notified if any security issues are reported.
• You will get notified when there are any upgrades to this script
• It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and motivates me to develop more

Donations
First of all, to be clear. This script is 100% free.

However if you feel an urge to donate I'm not going to say no.
Donations can be made at http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3/bd_donate.php

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by pcwfreak

Is there a way of making it remember a user without the 'Remember me?' checkbox?

Thanks.

Im at work at present so I havent had a chance to try this yet.
It may or may not work, and make sure you back up your login_inc.php first.

Find

PHP Code:

// Display login boxes + button
// You can style this with html or CSS as normal if desired.
echo"
    <form action="".$forumpath."/login.php" method=post onsubmit=md5hash(vb_login_password,vb_login_md5password,vb_login_md5password_utf)>
    <script type=text/javascript src="".$forumpath."/clientscript/vbulletin_md5.js"></script>
    User Name:<br>
    <input name=vb_login_username type=text id=navbar_username onfocus=if (this.value == '$vbphrase[username]') this.value = ''; size=10 />
            
    <br>Password:<br>
    <input name=vb_login_password type=password size=10 />
    </br>
        
    <label for=cb_cookieuser_navbar><input name=cookieuser type=checkbox id=cb_cookieuser_navbar value=1 checked=checked />
    Remember Me?<br /></label>
    
        
    <input type=submit title=$vbphrase[enter_username_to_login_or_register] value="Log In" />
        
    <input type=hidden name=s value=$session[sessionhash] />
    <input type=hidden name=do value=login />        
    <input type=hidden name=vb_login_md5password />
    <input type=hidden name=vb_login_md5password_utf />

    </form>
"; 


And replace with

PHP Code:

// Display login boxes + button
// You can style this with html or CSS as normal if desired.
echo"
    <form action="".$forumpath."/login.php" method=post onsubmit=md5hash(vb_login_password,vb_login_md5password,vb_login_md5password_utf)>
    <script type=text/javascript src="".$forumpath."/clientscript/vbulletin_md5.js"></script>
    User Name:<br>
    <input name=vb_login_username type=text id=navbar_username onfocus=if (this.value == '$vbphrase[username]') this.value = ''; size=10 />
            
    <br>Password:<br>
    <input name=vb_login_password type=password size=10 />
    </br>
        
    <input type=submit title=$vbphrase[enter_username_to_login_or_register] value="Log In" />
        
    <input type=hidden name=s value=$session[sessionhash] />
    <input type=hidden name=do value=login />
    <input type=hidden name=cookieuser id=cb_cookieuser_navbar value=1 checked=checked />    
    <input type=hidden name=vb_login_md5password />
    <input type=hidden name=vb_login_md5password_utf />

    </form>
"; 


[pcwfreak]

It seems to be working properly right now. Thanks!

[ThatsIt]

This is my situation. I installed the Simple -version on my forum and it was working perfectly. No problems what-so-ever, things were going as smooth as I could hope.

Then I decided to setup a test forum, and proceeded by creating a testvb folder, protected it with htaccess and installed the test forum along with the Simple login extension. This is where the problems begun.

According to vB instructions, the 'Path to Save Cookies' setting (Cookies and HTTP Header options) must be set to the directory of individual forums, if one runs more than one forum on the same domain. In my case, this meant that I set the path on my live forum to '/forums/' and on my test forums to '/testvb/forums/'.

This, of course, meant that the Simple login extension stopped working on my live forums since the 'Path to Save Cookies' setting should be set to '/'. If, on the other hand, I leave the live forums setting to '/', then I am not able to log on to my test forums at all, while the extension works perfectly on the live forums.

Does anyone see a way around this problem, or am I just out of luck. Is it possible to use this extension simultaneously and successfully on test forum thats running on the same domain with the 'live forum'.

[Rated]

Really cool hack, but i can't use it because i have a random banner / header script going on, and the..

PHP Code:

<?php 
    chdir('/path/to/your/forums');  
    require_once('/path/to/your/forums/global.php');   
    require_once('/path/to/login_inc.php'); 
?>

Makes it no longer work

Dammit, any fix ?

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by Rated

Dammit, any fix ?

Maybe.
Can you post the first dozen lines or so of your page so we can have a look.

[Billspaintball]

Confirmed working on vB 3.6 Beta 1

[Rated]

Hi bill,

Ive not got the error codes handy - but ill show you my random banner script, if this doesn't help i will add it again and show the error codes that are confliciting with this script.

PHP Code:

<?php 
// Random Picture v0.1 
// (c) Guido Faecke, GF-Data Inc. 

  $pic_dir = 'images/banners/'; 
   
  $counter = 0; 

  $d = dir($pic_dir); 
  while($entry=$d->read()) { 
    if ($entry != "." && $entry != "..") { 
      $array[] = $entry; 
      $counter++; 
    } 
  } 
  $d->close(); 
  $counter--; 
  $which = rand(0, $counter); 
?>
<? echo '<img src="'.$pic_dir.$array[$which].'" border="0">'; ?>

Thanks for the help

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by Rated

Hi bill,

Ive not got the error codes handy - but ill show you my random banner script, if this doesn't help i will add it again and show the error codes that are confliciting with this script.

PHP Code:

<?php 
// Random Picture v0.1 
// (c) Guido Faecke, GF-Data Inc. 

  $pic_dir = 'images/banners/'; 
   
  $counter = 0; 

  $d = dir($pic_dir); 
  while($entry=$d->read()) { 
    if ($entry != "." && $entry != "..") { 
      $array[] = $entry; 
      $counter++; 
    } 
  } 
  $d->close(); 
  $counter--; 
  $which = rand(0, $counter); 
?>
<? echo '<img src="'.$pic_dir.$array[$which].'" border="0">'; ?>

Thanks for the help

Have you tried something like

PHP Code:

<?php
chdir('/path/to/your/forums');   
require_once('/path/to/your/forums/global.php');    
// Random Picture v0.1 
// (c) Guido Faecke, GF-Data Inc. 

  $pic_dir = 'images/banners/'; 
   
  $counter = 0; 

  $d = dir($pic_dir); 
while($entry=$d->read()) { 
    if ($entry != "." && $entry != "..") { 
      $array[] = $entry; 
      $counter++; 
    } 
  } 
  $d->close(); 
  $counter--; 
  $which = rand(0, $counter); 
?>
<? echo '<img src="'.$pic_dir.$array[$which].'" border="0">'; ?>

//whatever stuff you like goes here.
<?php  
// And we put this where we want the login box
    require_once('/path/to/your/login_inc.php');  
?>

[Rated]

I don't really understand that, the random image script goes inside a table, and the php code your supposed to put at the top of the page won't work if it's in the table too, right? :s

[Billspaintball]

Originally Posted by Rated

I don't really understand that, the random image script goes inside a table, and the php code your supposed to put at the top of the page won't work if it's in the table too, right? :s

Ok, I thought that what you posted was at the top of the page.

Correct, my code wont work if its not at the very top of the page (before any output anyhow).

I suspect that your banner script may be broken because of the directory change in my script.
What was the exact error message you got?
You can change back to current directory after my script if you like.
I will post the code to do that as soon as I remember how...