Joomla! 1.5 plugin for Phorum integration

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Hi All,

I am going to use Phorum as forum solution, really like what you have been creating. I wanted to use Phorum within Joomla! 1.5 and noticed there was nothing useful that I could find (might be that I have not been looking in the right place).

I have created a Joomla! 1.5 user plug-in that handles the user synchronisation and also Single Sign On. This means that when you manage user from within Joomla! the plug-in will take care of the synchronisation (add, change, delete and block user are implemented). When a user logs into the Joomla! site, the plugin also authenticates within Phorum, logging out does exactly work the other way around.

The plugin uses the Joomla! 1.5 and Phorum API. So no core hacking, no tweaking but install, configure and enable is all you need to do to get it working.

The plugin can be found in the JFoobar labs --> [jfoobar.org]

Next step will be to create a Phorum extension that does exactly the same, but then from within Phorum. I have seen some solutions, but they don't use the Joomla! API properly. My knowledge of Phorum is (still)limited, maybe someone can help me out to create this solution (the Joomla! plugin took 1,5 hour to create).

Feedback is welcome.

Have you taken a look at my External Authentication module. I created an Elgg plugin for that module which can be used as an example and a base (aka blank) plugin from which you could build the Phorum side of things. If you have any questions about it, you can ask me in the module's thread.

---

Joe Curia (aka Azumandias)
Modules: l0Admin Mass Email00000000l000000Automatic Time Zones000ll.l00000Enhanced Custom Profiles0.00Google Calendar0000l.l000000Post Previews
000000000Admin Security Suite000000000000Check Modules for Upgrades0000External Authentication000000Group Auto-Email00000.00000Private Message Alerts
000000000Attachment Download Counter0000Custom Attachment Icons000ll.ll00Favorite Forums000000.00000Highlighted Search Terms0000Self-Delete Posts Option
000000000Attachment Watermarks0l00000000Custom Language Database00l.l.0Forum Lockdown00000.00000Ignore Forums0000000000000Threaded Tree View
000000000Automatic Message Pruning00.llll.00Easy Color Scheme Manager0l.l00Forum Subscriptions0000lll000Moderated User Group
Templates:lGeneric Integration000000000 0000Simple Rounded000000 00000000Tabbed Emerald

Quote
Joe Curia
Have you taken a look at my External Authentication module. I created an Elgg plugin for that module which can be used as an example and a base (aka blank) plugin from which you could build the Phorum side of things. If you have any questions about it, you can ask me in the module's thread.

Yes, I have taken a brief look at it. I will use it as fundament, and work towards a working solution. As far as I can see it only takes me a few line of codes to use the Joomla! API to get this running. I will post the solution also here once I have a working version.

Thanks for the response.

Willebil,

I'm excited about your work so far!

I also run a site that uses both Joomla and phorum, and I've done some integration, but nothing as tightly integrated as what you're building now.

I'm sure you'll want some help testing out what you come up with, which I'll be happy to do for you. I have a nice testbed set up for my site, so I can be pretty destructive w/out worries :)

It looks like you've got the Joomla->phorum user sync down, and you're looking at phorum -> Joomla user sync next?

How about integrating Phorum inside the Joomla layout? I'm still running the 2 systems parallel, with distinct templates, but the "embedded" capabilities of Phorum suggest that pulling it in via mod_jumi might work nicely.

Anyhow, let's compare notes going forward. It's about time Phorum gets the recognition it deserves by having a nice Joomla hook.

Sp

------------------------
Sean Phelan
Sites By Sequoia - Web Marketing ... The Experts at Building Your Success Online

Quote
sphelan
It looks like you've got the Joomla->phorum user sync down, and you're looking at phorum -> Joomla user sync next?

yes

Quote
sphelan
How about integrating Phorum inside the Joomla layout? I'm still running the 2 systems parallel, with distinct templates, but the "embedded" capabilities of Phorum suggest that pulling it in via mod_jumi might work nicely.

With Joomla 1.5 this is certainly possible without any core hack, but this is not what I need currently. I also will "bridge" between Joomla and Phorum using identical templates. I have not tried it, but you could use the wrapper to merge layouts between Joomla and Phorum.

Quote
sphelan
Anyhow, let's compare notes going forward. It's about time Phorum gets the recognition it deserves by having a nice Joomla hook.

Cannot agree more...will post the Phorum extension once I have a working alpha/beta, any help testing is welcome ;-)

I installed your phorum module to my joomla testbed last night, and got it working after a small bug-fix. I posted details on your jfoobar site.

So far, it does everything you say it does - great work so far.

As for bridging joomla and phorum for presentation - I have been running parallel installs of the 2 for about 8 months now, and the big downside is not making the templates look alike, but not being able to fully leverage the joomla components around the phorum page.

I've hacked my phorum template to rotate banner headers directly off the Joomla banner management system, but if phorum was included in Joomla, then this would not be necessary (as phorum would have no header).

In our case, we're running what could best be described as an "e-zine", so getting article teasers to the forum pages is useful, as well as product links for our online store, etc...

I'll have to learn more about the phorum embedding and "portable" capabilities - maybe I can figure it out and post it for everyone else.

------------------------
Sean Phelan
Sites By Sequoia - Web Marketing ... The Experts at Building Your Success Online

I noticed your two remarks, and as far as I understand it works as it should.

I have completed the phorum module. Along with the Joomla! plugin it provides the following logic now:

• Bi-directional user login and logout. This means that when a user logs into Joomla, it also logs you into Phorum. This also works the other way around, logging into Phorum will log you into Joomla. Logout logic works the same.
• Bi-directional user management. When you create/update/delete a user in Joomla! it will be also created in Phorum. Only those fields that are used in both systems will be used (obviously). The same logic works also from within Phorum, a password change will also be implemented in Joomla (as with change of username and mail address).
• New user registration logic of Phorum also works towards Joomla! The user account will only be accessible from within Joomla! after the user has confirmed the registration mail (if configured).

To install the phorum module, just unpack the zipfile, configure and enable. The only fields you need are the absolute path to the Joomla! installation, and a default group assignment for new users within Joomla!

To have it all working, you also need to upgrade the Joomla plugin to version 1.1. If you use the 1.0 version, you will suffer a login/user update recursion problem.

As for now the code is in beta stage. Any feedback is welcome. The files can be found on the download repository [joomlacode.org]. All information on www.jfoobar.org/labs will be updated as soon as possible.

Regards, Wilco

Quote
Wilco Jansen
New user registration logic of Phorum also works towards Joomla! The user account will only be accessible from within Joomla! after the user has confirmed the registration mail (if configured).

Just a quick question: to me, this doesn't sound like single sign on for new users (only old users will have single sign on). Or is this an option?
Ideally, the users shouldn't care about where they log in, right?

Cheers,
Marian

Quote
Marian

Quote
Wilco Jansen
New user registration logic of Phorum also works towards Joomla! The user account will only be accessible from within Joomla! after the user has confirmed the registration mail (if configured).

Just a quick question: to me, this doesn't sound like single sign on for new users (only old users will have single sign on). Or is this an option?
Ideally, the users shouldn't care about where they log in, right?

Cheers,
Marian

I believe he is simply saying that new users will not be able to log in to Phorum or Joomla! until after they have responded to the confirmation email (thus verifying their account).

Marian, thank you for your work on this complicated task. We have seen many requests for this type of seemless authentication integration so I know this will be well received. Now that this is a Phorum module I would suggest posting it in the modules forum so that it will be added to the downloads page and be easily found.

Thanks again for your great work.

---

Joe Curia (aka Azumandias)
Modules: l0Admin Mass Email00000000l000000Automatic Time Zones000ll.l00000Enhanced Custom Profiles0.00Google Calendar0000l.l000000Post Previews
000000000Admin Security Suite000000000000Check Modules for Upgrades0000External Authentication000000Group Auto-Email00000.00000Private Message Alerts
000000000Attachment Download Counter0000Custom Attachment Icons000ll.ll00Favorite Forums000000.00000Highlighted Search Terms0000Self-Delete Posts Option
000000000Attachment Watermarks0l00000000Custom Language Database00l.l.0Forum Lockdown00000.00000Ignore Forums0000000000000Threaded Tree View
000000000Automatic Message Pruning00.llll.00Easy Color Scheme Manager0l.l00Forum Subscriptions0000lll000Moderated User Group
Templates:lGeneric Integration000000000 0000Simple Rounded000000 00000000Tabbed Emerald

Wilco,

That phorum module sounds great! I'll be sure to get it all tested on my site this weekend and give you any feedback.

There is one question I've been mulling over that we might need to ask next... For existing user bases that are only in one place (either phorum or joomla), what's the best way to propagate or synchronize them?

So far, the modules (joomla and phorum) trigger off the addition of a new user - add it on one system, and it gets created in the other.

In my case, I have a large phorum user base (100+) and only 4 Joomla users (site admins/editors). Getting these 2 synchronized initially could either be some free-standing script, or integrated into one of the modules as an action the user can invoke.

Any thoughts on which system would support this more easily? I expect the code would be similar either way, but the invocation would be the question. Both systems allow modules to offer an on-demand task, it's just a matter of which is easier.

Have a great weekend!

------------------------
Sean Phelan
Sites By Sequoia - Web Marketing ... The Experts at Building Your Success Online