Login using social media accounts

Question

I have searched for this already but not sure what the answer is.

My requirement is:

- plugin for login using accounts from various social media websites

- preferably a single plugin for all social media websites, rather than different plugins for different websites - I note that the core Facebook login plugin is only for, well, Facebook

- a plugin that is updated actively so that API changes from any website can be implemented quickly - https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login seems not have been updated for a couple of years

- easy to set up with the donut theme and without any issues

- something that doesn't leave my database in a wierd shape if I decide to use another plugin later. For example, if this plugin creates a user in the Q2A database for my Facebook user, I want the Q2A user to be able to login as normal with Facebook & access all their questions/points/etc. if I replace this plugin with another in the future.

This feature must be something many Q2A sites are using. What plugin do you use & does it work well?

Comments

Any feedback? Is https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login what people generally use?

Answer 1

- plugin for login using accounts from various social media websites

q2a-open-login fullfils this requirement

- preferably a single plugin for all social media websites, rather than different plugins for different websites - I note that the core Facebook login plugin is only for, well, Facebook

q2a-open-login fullfils this requirement

- a plugin that is updated actively so that API changes from any website can be implemented quickly - https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login seems not have been updated for a couple of years

I hardly believe there is any plugin in Q2A that is updated very often. Go one by one on the plugins here and see that for yourself: http://docs.question2answer.org/addons

- easy to set up with the donut theme and without any issues

This is impossible. Nobody would assure there won't be any issues with any piece of software. A multi-million company like Microsoft has bugs and solve them by a huge amounts patches. Why would the (free) Q2A world be different? The donut theme does not come with the core so there is less chances of a plugin supporting it

- something that doesn't leave my database in a wierd shape...

Bad news again. The q2a-open-login modifies your users and userlogins tables: https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login/blob/master/qa-open-page-logins.php#L51 . If you have installed this plugin then your database is already tainted.

Now, you haven't mentioned anything about the plugin being free of charge. So you could just pay someone to frequently update the q2a-open-login and adjust it to your needs (e.g.: leaving the Q2A's core tables untouched). Technically, this solves your problem. Here are some service providers: http://docs.question2answer.org/services

Bear in mind that the q2a-open-login plugin is the only one in its kind. If it is not an option, then you will have to stay with the Facebook plugin, which, for the time being, is officially supported.

Comments

Open-login works with the Donut theme.

It is highly recommended to update the open-login plugin with the latest 2.x release of hybrid auth. Open login is basically just a wrap around hybrid auth, but the repository above only has an outdated version of it. Please note that it has to be the 2.x branch.

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Note I didn't say it didn't "work". I said no developer will claim their software to integrate with third parties (which they don't obviously control) "without any issues". That is not realistic. In fact, the GPLv2 license clearly states that the developers 'PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND'.

As an example, unarguably, Q2A "works" but still there are 34 issues open (at the moment) https://github.com/q2a/question2answer/issues

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Thanks pupi1985 for the info. Apologies if my question offended anyone - I was only seeking information. And thanks for the excellent software & support..

It seems q2a-open-login is the clear answer. However, there is https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login which is listed on http://docs.question2answer.org/addons/#plugins. From some other Q2A threads, I picked up that there were a couple of forks and it wasn't clear if it is recommended to use the original or a fork.

Thanks poVoq for the info about the update - it wouldn't have been obvious to me to stick to 2.x. Also reassuring that it does work with the Donut theme.

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Nobody got offended :)

Regarding what fork to use, well, that's the million dollar question. The best reasoning would be to use the one that bests suits your needs (you have stated them in the question). Most likely you will want the most frequently updated one. The original repo hasn't been updated for 2 years and keeping stuff updated (specifically for that plugin) is essencial.

Regarding keeping with the "2.x branch", note that poVoq is talking about HybridAuth: https://github.com/hybridauth/hybridauth/releases . He is not talking about the q2a-open-login plugin itself (which is what I understood you were talking about in your last comment). You should use the latest version of the q2a-open-login (v3.0.0)

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I did understand 2.x as being the HybridAuth version but thanks for clarifying.

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So, what is the solution?

https://github.com/alixandru/q2a-open-login is several years old.

What do people use?

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I believe the last two paragraphs in my answer address those two questions