Forum logins

[thatbloke]

I was wondering if it would be possible to simply have one login for the whole of the THN network??? i.e. as well as here, be able to use the same login over at THN comedy, THN Tech, etc. without having to register separately at all of those places... as I really cant be bothered to have like 4 or 5 separate accounts just to post in a particular forum... and confirmation emails annoy the crap out of me too...

 

[Nanor]

Ooh, that would be great!

 

[Gopha]

yer, and it still hasnt verified my bloody account for THN Gallery Tech and Comedy

 

[Ronin Storm]

I was wondering if it would be possible to simply have one login for the whole of the THN network???

At the moment, no. I really understand the reasoning behind your request and I sympathise, but the systems are currently very separate in order to help us develop/expand without high (any?) dependency on the other sections of the network.

Single sign-on is a tricky business at the best of times. I strongly doubt we'll get there any time soon, unless a fervent need arises.

and confirmation emails annoy the crap out of me too...

Yeah, I hear that a lot. As a board admin, I like the confirmation emails system because it gives me a probable point of contact in case of abuse. Clearly it can be circumvented, but that's not really the point -- it's another step that helps prevent bot sign-ons and spamming. As a user, of course, I don't really care for the system because it doesn't help me at all and often means I'm hanging around for this email that might or might not turn up.

For the time being it is here to stay. My first order of business is to protect the community from a hostile internet (and we have to treat the internet as hostile these days). For the sake of a few dropped registrations and verification follow-ups and a little registration pain I think the balance is positive.

 

[DeZmond]

yer, and it still hasnt verified my bloody account for THN Gallery Tech and Comedy

Well comedy doesn't require email verification (yet, anyway), however having checked the database I can confirm that you have not yet registered. As for Tech/ Gallery I can't be sure.

I was wondering if it would be possible to simply have one login for the whole of the THN network???

It seems unlikely on a technical level - we're using several different software packages on the server and they are not all compatible - this forum runs vBulleitin, comedy runs a hacked version of PhpBB, and Tech uses Drupal. With a LOT of coding it could be possible, but I wouldn't expect to see this due to the timescale, effort and technical knowledge required. In addition - if something went wrong on one part of the site the entire THN network would have problems - so it's an approach we are not likely to use.

Good idea, though.

 

[DocBot]

....I'm still waiting for the digital identities... when that happens - oh happy days...

 

[Wraith]

Well comedy doesn't require email verification (yet, anyway), however having checked the database I can confirm that you have not yet registered. As for Tech/ Gallery I can't be sure.



It seems unlikely on a technical level - we're using several different software packages on the server and they are not all compatible - this forum runs vBulleitin, comedy runs a hacked version of PhpBB, and Tech uses Drupal. With a LOT of coding it could be possible, but I wouldn't expect to see this due to the timescale, effort and technical knowledge required. In addition - if something went wrong on one part of the site the entire THN network would have problems - so it's an approach we are not likely to use.

Good idea, though.

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason why each different forum uses a different server? Seems to me it would be easier to have just one software for the whole lot. (Not that I know anything about this stuff so forgive me if that was a horribly noobish comment )

Wraith

 

[Ronin Storm]

is there a reason why each different forum uses a different server?

Four main reasons:

1. vBulletin is a paid-for product, the rest are free. We can't afford more than one instance of vBulletin.
2. The different streams are designed to stand alone in a loosely linked network of sites, they aren't designed to be integrated. This way we can develop one without affecting the others. Keeps it easy to develop and make changes in the different streams.
3. Different tools for different jobs. Drupal is a CMS, vBulletin and phpBB are bulletin boards, Gallery 2 is gallery software, etc, etc. We (try) to choose the best tool for the job rather than overload any one system as experience has taught us that this causes strain on both development and the systems themselves, thus increasing maintenance.
4. There's all sorts of new software we want to try out and this is one "real world" way of doing that.

so forgive me if that was a horribly noobish comment

Not at all. I certainly understand the need for the question. We could have done it a different way, we just chose this path to keep it a bit easier on us as admins and developers.