A real front end security system

[greypanda]

I have spent DAYS trying to get the front end user part of CMSMS working. Every time I think it is working, a new user comes in and has some kind of problem. I finally moved everything to beta6 hoping that the code had improved, but no, still not.

I don't quite understand why a key piece of the application has to be so fragmented into three parts. After turning off all caching, patching about 50 lines of code, and writing some really ugly functions that needlessly access the database, I have finally thrown in the towel.

I have had users that couldn't get logged in, users that ended up seeing hidden pages, and pages that will work 50% of the time. The customcontent fetching of the logged id and name seem to work only when they feel like it. I still think there is some caching issue, but I have turned all of that off.

Come on, guys, if cmsms is really going to last, we really need to get a reliable and foolproof front end that doesn't require a week to troubleshoot.

We only need a few functions: registration, login, logout, permissions, and validation. But they need to be rock solid.

[calguy1000]

The feusers/customcontent/selfreg combination is rock solid.

I developed those modules for a site that had 20,000+ registered users when it was done (it was a time limited operation, only 4 months).  and had nary a complaint except for the fact that the filtering needed to be improved in the admin interface, which it has been.

The issues I had were that some of the registration emails were being interpreted as spam, and some people couldn't remember their usernames, etc for even 20 minutes.  these are relatively normal problems.

Recently I encountered problems where caching had to be turned off, that must be new for the 1.0 series, but other than this, I tested it all last night and had no difficulties.

SelfRegistration, CustomContent and FrontendUsers work fine as far as I know, and unless you have a specific problem that can be reproduced, then there's no way I can help you.

Constructive criticism helps, negative comments don't.  negative comments get you placed on the ignore pile.

BTW, I spent weeks developing the system, and have spent more weeks adding features, and fixing issues, for which I have not been paid a nickle.  a little bit of appreciation would be nice though.

[cyberman]

We only need a few functions: registration, login, logout,

If you wanna some features they are not on roadmap it's possible to get it - please look here

http://cmsmadesimple.org/main/support/services

But you are free too to go to a real portal system with features you want like xoops or so other ...

CMSms is mainly for easy website creating and is not targeting to be a portal.

[greypanda]

If you are going to produce modules for the average programmer, you really need to get your documentation cleaned up. The fact that your examples don't work out of the box is a crime. Examples are the ONLY thing a new developer has to go on. Now, admittedly, I should have recognized that "{if custom_content_loggedin}"  was not going to work without the "$", but when the documentation is buried in the application itself, it is pretty tough to work with. The only way to use the doc is to PRINT it. Come on, now. How about a nice page of text that you can see after the application has killed itself due to a silly missing character?

We obviously haven't worked on the code for four months and don't know every little nuance. We need a place to start that doesn't cause flesh wounds.

But you aren't alone in the documentation jungle. Just about every CMS I have tried has suffered the same disease. Getting over the initial hump in using these beasts is a tough trip due to the really crappy documentation. I know that most programmers really hate to document, but it's just part of the job, paid or not.

No more flames. Good luck on your venture.

[cyberman]

You are invited to document such things in wiki

http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php ... odule_help

[dburniston]

I've just installed the FE User, Custom Content and Self Registration modules and they seem to work fine for me.

This was soooo much easier than the last time I had to do something like this.Thank you!!!!!

One question though. Will the self registration handle 500+ users? I thought I read that it had a 250 limit... although I've just gone back to try to find that reference and I can't!

...Dave

[calguy1000]

There are no hard-set limits.  I designed this system for a lottery site, and that site had 14,000+ registered users at the end of the lottery.  (which is why I had to add filtering). so yeah.... it'll handle 500+, no problems.

[dburniston]

There are no hard-set limits.  I designed this system for a lottery site, and that site had 14,000+ registered users at the end of the lottery.  (which is why I had to add filtering). so yeah.... it'll handle 500+, no problems.

Thanks CalGuy,

I found the reference... If I go under Users&Groups, SelfRegistration in the area where it reports users, it says there is a limit of 250.

Glad to hear it will work! Thanks for a great set of modules.

[calguy1000]

I'm pretty sure that's just a limit to the amount of records that are displayed on the screen at one time.