Quick Account Switch v1.2

Quick Account Switch v1.2.
by Ianomed

Uses of this hack:

This account will let you string together several accounts owned by the same person. Of course it will also let you string together accounts owned by different people, but that's a dangerous thing to do.

What then is the use of stringing accounts together? Well, this hack will let you switch from one to the other account without having to log out, then log in again. Those interested in the technical aspect I refer to the addition made to login.php, it's all quite simple. You'll see now why it's dangerous to string together your account with someone else's, they'd be able to switch to your account.

I wrote this for two play-by-board RPGs that I frequent, at each of which I have several accounts, an account for each character. This lets me assume another account in moments.

It's also used by admins to switch between test accounts quickly.

Maybe you'll find other uses, eh?

Changes required:

1. Adding of 1 field to user table (installer will try to do this)
2. Adding of 18 phrases (installer does this)
3. An addition to admincp/user.php
4. An addition to global.php
5. An addition to login.php
6. A modification to the navbar template (for each style)
   
   Time needed: 20-30 minutes
   Difficulty rating: moderate

Known issues with v1.2:

Changing the username of an account that's either a slave or master, it does not update these cached usernames. This will be taken care of in v1.3.
Work-around: If you rename a user, unlink it first, and relink after the renaming.
Since I don't see this happening very often on any board I'm releasing v1.2 with this caveat.

Item of note:

For some obscure reason vBportal does NOT play nice with this hack. It'll introduce cookie/header errors. Either do not install this hack if vBportal is installed, or vice versa. Since I don't plan on spending $20 to buy software I'll never use, there's no intention on my part to work out that problem. You're good to go with vbadvanced CPMS, however, this has been tested.

Warranties:

None, in the instructions you'll notice I tell you to backup before applying the hack. I've tested it on 4 boards, each of which have additional hacks installed, and it runs on many more. If it doesn't for you then, well... roll back the changes you've just made and blame yourself.

Tested (and works) on:

• vB 3.0.3. - vanilla
• vB 3.0.1. - vanilla
• vB 3.0.3. - With vbAdvanced Homepage / CPMS (out of the box)
• vB 3.0.1. - With vbAdvanced Homepage / CPMS (out of the box)
• vB 3.0.3. - With vBindex v3.0.0 RC5 (Instructions by bondjetta)
• vB 3.0.3. - Nexialys - ACP cookie hack. <- Recommended combination
• vB 3.0.1. - Nexialys - ACP cookie hack. <- Recommended combination
• vB 3.0.3. - Assorted mods

Future plans:

• v 1.3 - Optionally displaying the linked accounts on the public profile. (i.e. 'I am also ....')
• v 1.3 - Fix user rename issue (see known issues, above).
• v 1.3 - Under Users in the ACP add a Manage Linked Accounts option, listing all linked accounts and their slaves.
• v x.x - Very maybe: allow sharing of a secondary account between two users. This is the trickiest of all, since when on that account, who should you allow switching back to in a way that can't be circumvented.

Future non-plans (I will probably never implement these):

• A 'let users link accounts themselves' mode.

Thanks to Oblivion Knight for the updated dropdown look.

Enjoy

--- History ---
v1.2 - 17th November 2004

• Removed username colouring, it's not really necessary and only adds extra queries.
• No longer uses a custom profile field, instead an extra field in the usertable is made
• Fully phrased, installer written to add phrases
• The usernames for the linked accounts are cached, this means that running the hack now takes no extra queries at all for those logged on as master, or who have no linked accounts. Being logged on as a slave account adds only 1 query per page view, this used to be more too.

v1.1.1 - 27th October

Fixes session expiration problem occuring after switch. Users are encouraged to upgrade. To upgrade follow the instructions in switch_11_to_111.txt. For new installs the corrected code is in switch_111.txt, the installation instructions.

v1.1 - 26th October

Fixes a flaw where on some MySQL versions IDs were matched improperly, also the new session is now permanent. Users are encouraged to upgrade.
To upgrade roll back and redo the changes to global.php and login.php, no changes were made to the template or custom field.

v1.0 - 25th October 2004

initial release

[Lionel]

that does not work for me with 3.01 and vbadvanced. In advanced page (I harcoded the link to login in global.php) it displays the toggle, but when I select a username, it takes me to a blank page.

On forumhome, the toggle does not display at all.

And yes, I have a valid licence :-)

Originally Posted by Lionel

And yes, I have a valid licence :-)

fiou... i hope for you... with 590 posts already done, no license would be futile.. lol..

btw, do you have anyother hack related to login or identification install on your board ?!...

[Lionel]

Haha... I do not remember. The board has so many hacks. But I do have a problem for four weeks now with who's online.

[Ianomed]

Lionel, within the forum itself does it switch proper?

Secondly: do you have the forum in /forum, and the site in /, or something similar? or are the forum and portal both in the same directory?

Thirdly (and lastly): vbadvanced or vbadvanced CPMS, and which version?

My beta tester, AzhriaLilu, ran this hack succesfully on a modded 3.0.3. with vbadvanced CPMS, perhaps it's a 3.0.1. specific issue, or doesn't work with the standard portal out of the box. I'll have a look either way.

It's been tested solely on 3.0.3. (with various previous modifications on 3 of the boards), which is why I listed it as a requirement in the instructions.

I'll get back to you on this, with some changes perhaps it can be made tick for 3.0.1. and vbA as well. *goes and finds the 3.01 installer*

[Lionel]

I think I am going to do a beyond compare to see what is messed up with my who's online. Maybe that will solve the problem. I went to every single function line by line, every relevant php, except login.php

[Lionel]

Ianomed, the condition does not applies at all in the forum. I does not display at all. I logged off, log back on, nothing, nada.

I have vbadvanced regular installed at root and forum on a directory under.

That hack was like God sent for me. It's a shame what is happening to me.

The board has been behaving erratically. I installed the mod management hack last week, no template will display. I placed an echo "hello"; at the top, it started displaying. The next day, it gave me an error message about header, then I removed the echo, and by accident I clicked on the link, and voila, like by magic, it worked.

Who's online? Sometimes I see no one, but I know they are online. Some other times, I see 2 of myself. :speechless:

[Ianomed]

Hmmm, it sure does sound something else was messed up good before you installed this hack. I'll still install vbadvanced regular on 3.0.1. here to see what it does, but I can't guarantee anything.

If there's something specific to vbA and 3.0.1. in accordance with this hack I'll find it, if not then it appears your board's prior state is likely the culprit somehow.

Sadly you have a looooooottt of hacks installed, as you say, or I would suggest upgrading to vB 3.0.3. and reapply vbA and this hack. With a board that start working like magic, who knows what can happen?

Speaking of which, we know it works on CPMS, since this we tested. The 'diet' version as yet goes untested, so this I'll take along with it on my todo list.

[Ianomed]

I've just tested this hack on a vanilla (clean) install of vB 3.0.1., and it works perfectly.

Now to test with vBAdvanced homepage as well... *rolls drums*

[HiDeo]

Really interesting hack !

Thanks

[Oblivion Knight]

Originally Posted by nexialys

it's even better than what i've played with lately (different cookie for admincp)

Does this hack work ok in conjunction with your hack then? That is currently the only concern I have before installing this, sounds like a great idea and would enable me to quickly switch between my test account..