Single Sign-On Plug-Ins for Joomla!

by Pete

Updated 4/29/08

Overview

The KickApps SSO plugins for Joomla! 1.5 and 1.0 facilitate a seamless login experience between your Joomla! site and your KickApps-powered community. When your members login to your Joomla! site, they will be automatically signed-in to your KickApps community.

If you have an existing Joomla! site with existing members, as these members sign into your Joomla! site, they will be auto-registered into your KickApps community, so no initial user import into KickApps is required.

You can pick up the plug-ins from Joomla!'s extension directory, or read on for step-by-step instructions for installing the KickApps Single Sign-On Plugin for Joomla! 1.5RC4 and Joomla! 1.0.

Setup

  1. First and foremost – create a KickApps account at www.kickapps.com.
  2. Log into the KickApps Affiliate Center and browse to Configure > Advanced > Single Sign-On. In the table of required information on that page, note down the exact values for your Username, Email, and Site Name. Then, under "Activate SSO", click "Yes".
  3. Grab the KickApps Single Sign on plugin for your version of Joomla!
    1. Joomla! 1.5 plugins (you'll need both):
      1. User plugin: http://www.kickdeveloper.com/Joomla!/kickapps_user_15.zip -- Updated 3/21/08
      2. System plugin: http://www.kickdeveloper.com/Joomla!/kickapps_system_15.zip
    2. Joomla! 1.0 plugin
      1. User pluginhttp://www.kickdeveloper.com/Joomla!/kickapps_Joomla!_10.zip
  4. Upload and install the user plugin into your Joomla! instance.
  5. If you're using Joomla! 1.5, enable the user plugin via the Joomla! plugin management interface. For Joomla! 1.0, enable the mambot.
  6. Configure the plugin in Joomla! with the three values (username, email, site name) you noted above.
    Joomla Config
  7. For Joomla! 1.5, upload and install the system plugin (Joomla! 1.0 users can skip to the next step).
  8. Enable the system plugin (No configuration is required).
  9. Log into the Affiliate Center and browse to Configure > Advanced > Single Sign-On.
  10. Fill out the fields as follows to point all KickApps related login/registration links to your Joomla! site.
    1. Registration
      1. Point to your Joomla! register page – e.g. http://www.myJoomla!site.com/index.php?option=com_user&task=register
    2. Sign-on
      1. Point to your Joomla! sign-in page (or the site’s home page, where the login form
        sits by default) – e.g. http://www.myJoomla!site.com
    3. Forgotten Password
      1. Point to your Joomla! forgot password page – e.g. http://www.myJoomla!site.com/index.php?option=com_user&view=reset
    4. Sign-out Destination
      1. Point to your Joomla! home page – e.g. http://www.myJoomla!site.com
  11. Create widgets in the Affiliate Center, and paste them into your articles, posts, flat HTML, anywhere you like!

User Experience

  • Users that are already signed in to your Joomla! site
    • When clicking through to your KickApps powered community pages, they will be automatically signed into the KickApps community.
  • Users that have not yet signed in to your Joomla! site
    • When clicking through to a KickApps powered community page, they will not be signed in (obviously.. since they have not signed in to the Joomla! site).
      • Clicking on a “login” link on a KickApps page directs the user to your Joomla! login page.
      • Clicking on a “join” link on a KickApps page directs the user to your Joomla! registration page.

Already have a KickApps community?

Most Joomla! administrators using this plugin will be adding KickApps Social Media functionality to their existing Joomla! sites. As mentioned, no Joomla! member export is necessary to make this happen.

However, if you already have a KickApps community and want to use that membership in your Joomla! site, you will need to contact KickApps support (www.kickdeveloper.com/support) to request an export of your KickApps members such that you can import them into your Joomla! community.

Did you enjoy this tutorial? Have questions, comments, or want to submit one of your own? Contact us at support@kickapps.com.