Unique Authentication System across all website/s

[kippesp]

My forums currently consist of 4 vBulletin forums each running vb2 code. There are two domains with one domain having 3 forums. The mod we made for vb2 centralized some tables into a shared database. The tables included user, userprofile, usergroups, privatemessage and about 6 others. This permits our users to have one username/password combination and use it across each of our 4 forums.

Since one forum uses a different domain, they won't be logged on automatically if they were logged on using the other domain. However, if they stay in the same domain, they will remain logged in when they are using cookies.

Who cares about vb2.... Well, that was our starting point. I've made similar modifications already for vbulletin 3 code. I've tested my changes that share about 20 tables.

How much to share depends on your implementation. For example, we opted to share calendar and holiday data. Others may not want that shared.

We've abandoned our need for this modification. I've already put in over 100 hours towards this modification, but we're doing something else. So far, the modification is over 900 lines.

As far as the cookie issue discussed, I did have to change that area as well since it depends on the license number. And with multiple license numbers, I needed something common. Problem solved.

I also added a flag to "unshare" the tables. This is required anytime you want to upgrade your forums. Otherwise, updating may fail depending on what changes the vBulletin update script makes.

I also have not completed necessary admin/mod panel modifications. Fox example, if you delete a user in one forum, the other forums would need to have posts removed if that is what you want. Birthday cron messages should only go out for one forum. These backend features are where I left off.

Are you a programmer who could take what I have and use it for your own modification? I can't justify continuing to make this modification since I no longer need it.

I guess PM me if you want to work something out. It would probably be best if I just handed my work (as a diff file) over to you and let you continue it from here.

Unless you're a programmer, I wouldn't advise using this modification. We've used it on vb2 for 3 years with vb2. This and other modifications caused many, many months delay in implementing a vbulletin 3 solution. And in the end, we're having to go a different route. Further, each time a new version of vBulletin is released, at least one hour of patching and verification is required. I've improved my efficiency in upgrading, but every time I must look at the changes and think through how it impacts a shared user environment--specifically looking for new queries or changes to existing tables/queries. If you don't do these things, you may encounter problems. To those users who say, "I upgraded in 5 minutes thanks to Beyond Compare." I say, "More power to ya, buddy!"