Distributed authentication
One of the more tedious moments in visiting a new website is filling out the
registration form. Here at Seniors for America, you do not have to fill out a registration form
if you are already a member of Drupal, Jabber. This capability is called Distributed
Authentication, and is unique to Drupal,
the software which powers Seniors for America.
Distributed authentication enables a new user to input a username and password into the login box,
and immediately be recognized, even if that user never registered at Seniors for America. This
works because Drupal knows how to communicate with external registration databases.
For example, lets say that new user 'Joe' is already a registered member of
Delphi Forums. Drupal informs Joe
on registration and login screens that he may login with his Delphi ID instead
of registering with Seniors for America. Joe likes that idea, and logs in with a username
of joe and his usual Delphi password. Drupal then contacts
the remote.delphiforums.com server behind the scenes (usually using XML-RPC,
HTTP POST, or SOAP)
and asks: "Is the password for user Joe correct?". If Delphi replies yes, then
we create a new Seniors for America account for Joe and log him into it. Joe may keep
on logging into Seniors for America in the same manner, and he will always be logged into the
same account.DrupalDrupal is the name of the software which powers Seniors for America. There are Drupal web sites all over the world, and many of them share their registration databases so that users may freely login to any Drupal site using a single Drupal ID.
So please feel free to login to your account here at Seniors for America with a username from another Drupal site. The format of a Drupal ID is similar to an email address: username@server. An example of valid Drupal ID is mwlily@www.drupal.org. JabberJabber is an source instant messaging system designed to give the power of choice and freedom back to the users of instant messaging. Not only does Jabber allow its users to use (and create) clients for numerous platforms, but it allows people to communicate to whomever they want in the way which is most convenient for them. You may login to Seniors for America using a Jabber ID. The format of a Jabber ID is the same as an email address: name@server An example of valid Jabber ID is mwlily@jabber.com. Note that you must be able to access port 111 on the Jabber server from your web server. For example, sourceforge.net blocks port 111 so Jabber authentication does not work. |
