PT user accounts and authentication

[Orion Pobursky]

The PT currently uses the forums to authenticate users. While this currently works well enough, but with the next gen PT in development, we have an opportunity to discuss what we would like to do going forward.

I see 2 viable options:

- Keep the current system with the forums being the controlling account
Pros: Familiarity. Easier to PM authors with questions.
Cons: At the mercy of the developers of the forums to not break things. Rewrites needed if we decide to change software.

- The PT and the forum accounts separate
Pros: Thing only break if we break them. Having an API to tie into is easier.
Cons: More things to sign into. More difficult to tie stuff back to the forums (like the Parts Author badges)

Now that I've pondered and written the above, I think I'm in favor of keeping the forums and PT tied together.

[Max Murtazin]

The PT currently uses the forums to authenticate users. While this currently works well enough, but with the next gen PT in development, we have an opportunity to discuss what we would like to do going forward.

I see 2 viable options:

- Keep the current system with the forums being the controlling account
Pros: Familiarity. Easier to PM authors with questions.
Cons: At the mercy of the developers of the forums to not break things. Rewrites needed if we decide to change software.

- The PT and the forum accounts separate
Pros: Thing only break if we break them. Having an API to tie into is easier.
Cons: More things to sign into. More difficult to tie stuff back to the forums (like the Parts Author badges)

Now that I've pondered and written the above, I think I'm in favor of keeping the forums and PT tied together.

Are there any possible pros to users from having separate accounts? I think that's the only case to actually do separate

[Orion Pobursky]

Obtaining a PT account will probably be slightly less cumbersome. Although, I think I've ironed out the issue of account activation emails bouncing which was the main problem in the past.

To directly answer your question: not in any measurable way that I can think of.

[Max Martin Richter]

The PT currently uses the forums to authenticate users. While this currently works well enough, but with the next gen PT in development, we have an opportunity to discuss what we would like to do going forward.

I see 2 viable options:

- Keep the current system with the forums being the controlling account
Pros: Familiarity. Easier to PM authors with questions.
Cons: At the mercy of the developers of the forums to not break things. Rewrites needed if we decide to change software.

- The PT and the forum accounts separate
Pros: Thing only break if we break them. Having an API to tie into is easier.
Cons: More things to sign into. More difficult to tie stuff back to the forums (like the Parts Author badges)

Now that I've pondered and written the above, I think I'm in favor of keeping the forums and PT tied together.

I would like to stay with option 1. :-)

[Orion Pobursky]

Sometimes simply writing out a post like this helps me see the right answer. I posted it anyway in case there was some glaring problem I didn't consider.

[Franklin W. Cain]

I would like to stay with option 1. :-)

What he said!  ;-)

[Orion Pobursky]

It turns out that option 1 was trivial to implement (after walking down the wrong path for an hour or so but such is the life of a programmer sometimes).