Postnuke "How To" (Please)

Postnuke "How To" (Please)

R Holden發表於
Number of replies: 28
Hi, I'm new to moodle.  I've been working with Postnuke for almost 1.5 years.  I would like to use them together.  I have downloaded 1.0.8, however, I'm not sure how to connect the two.  I can get into PHP code and the MySQL database, I just need to know "What" to do.  I'm willing to learn, Thanks for any help!--Project3e
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In reply to R Holden

How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
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How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

This explains how to use Moodle's external authentication so that users can log in to Moodle using existing PostNuke accounts. When they log in on Moodle, their username and password is compared against the Postnuke database. If there is a match they are logged in to Moodle. The first time they log in their Moodle account is created and populated with data from the Postnuke account. On subsequent logins only the username/password are checked without changing and Moodle account data they may have entered (eg city, country, description etc)

Here are the steps for the admin to set this up

  1. As admin, go to the "Authentication" setup.
  2. Select "Use an External database".
  3. Set up the first five variables to specify access to the database that contains the Postnuke tables (eg auth_dbhost, auth_dbtype, auth_dbname, auth_dbuser, auth_dbpass)
  4. auth_dbtable = nuke_users (the name of the Postnuke user table)
  5. auth_dbfielduser = pn_uname
  6. auth_dbfieldpass = pn_pass
  7. auth_dbpasstype = "Md5 Encryption"
  8. (Optional) You can specify other nuke_users fields to use in the remaining entries. For example if you put "pn_email" in the entry for "Email address", then the Postnuke email address will be copied into the Moodle email field for each user as they authenticate the first time. If you don't do this then users will be prompted to fill in missing fields before they can use any courses.
  9. For "Instructions", write something meaningful to explain to your users which username/account they should be using.
  10. For "Change password URL" put in the URL of the page in your PostNuke setup where they would change their Postnuke password.
  11. Finally, you can choose to allow/disallow the "Login as Guest" button on the login page.

You're done! Save the changes then go and try to login using a PostNuke account.

In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Ryan Kern-Mount發表於
Martin-
 
I was able to coneect and transfer my user data from My PostNuke Portal. Very exciting!
 
Now I've encountered another issue.
 
After submitting my login request, the browser gets locked in a META REFRESH loop. Here's some additional data:
  • The data gets transered to the users table. (Good.)
  • Browser gets locked in a META REFRESH loop. (Not Good wink.gif )
  • Canceling this locked-loop thingie causes a blank page, however returning to the default homepage, allows me to continue on as that user. (sorta OK for me, but not others)
  • commenting out line 1108 in /lib/weblib.php:   
// echo "<META HTTP-EQUIV='Refresh' CONTENT='$delay; URL=$url'>";
stops the looping, but nothing else will work
  • Turning the debug on doesn't provide me with any insights.

Here's my platform:

  • Windows 2000 Server SP3
  • PHP 4.2.3
  • MySQL 4.0.4-beta-max-nt
  • Moodle 1.0.8 (latest one from the site)

Any Suggestions?

Many thanks for such a great tool!

Ryan Kern-Mount

In reply to Ryan Kern-Mount

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
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Offhand I don't know what could be causing that. Can you please email me your URL?
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Ryan Kern-Mount發表於

Thanks Martin-

My developement Moodle Server is behind a firewall. I'll have to move it to another machine in a couple of days. I'll let you know when it's accessible. I'll also keep working on it 'till then.

Thanks

Ryan Kern-Mount

In reply to Ryan Kern-Mount

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Abdul Rahman發表於

This is bizarre! It only affects new accounts created AFTER the link between PostNuke and moodle. Prevously created accounts are OK, but new account logins go into an endless loop!

Martin - u can check it out at www.maxinfo.com.sg/ILM/moodle. Create a new account and see. I've tried it for both 1.0.8 and 1.0.8.1

 

 

In reply to Abdul Rahman

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
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I think it's because email is getting copied across but the lastname *isn't*. If you take pn_email out of the authentication section it functions normally.

Can you try this fix for me?

In user/edit.php, near the top, is this line:

    if ($user->confirmed and !$user->email) {
Can you please change it to:
    if ($user->confirmed and user_not_fully_set_up($user)) {
And try it again?
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Craig Szymanski發表於
I was experienceing the same problem and this was a fix.  In my situation I was authenticating via an Active Directory ldap and the last name (sn) and mail was getting pulled in on registration, but the first name (givenName) was not.
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

R Holden發表於
So far, so good.  Sorry it took so long!  I do have a question that builds upon this discussion:  How do I assign admins and teachers from the postnuke user list I'm linking to?  If I have a user: joe.shmo in my postnuke database, do I also have to recreate a user of the same name in moodle, so I can make this user an admin or teacher?  Thanks for the headsup! 微笑
In reply to R Holden

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
Core developers的相片 Documentation writers的相片 Moodle HQ的相片 Particularly helpful Moodlers的相片 Plugin developers的相片 Testers的相片
The account has to exist in the Moodle database to be made a teacher or admin, yes. So, you can either pre-create the account to match their Postnuke details, or just login once using their account (which will create the Moodle account for you).
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Filippo Caburlotto發表於

After that I created the account in the Moodle db is it possible to use cookies to avoid a double login?

That is, can I check PN cookies to permit an "automatic" log into Moodle?

Thank You.

Fil

In reply to Filippo Caburlotto

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
Core developers的相片 Documentation writers的相片 Moodle HQ的相片 Particularly helpful Moodlers的相片 Plugin developers的相片 Testers的相片
Moodle can't do this "out of the box" but I imagine the hacking necessary would be minimal (add some PHP into moodle/lib/setup.php).  The problem is security - you need to ensure that anyone can't just invent a cookie and so log right into Moodle without any checks being made.
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Filippo Caburlotto發表於

Thank you.

Can you "imagine" if the there is a way to solve the security problem?

(Who is that fool who create an ad hoc cookie to log into an online course about italian language for foreign students??? 大眼睛 )

In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Barry Bell發表於

Hi

Just wondering if the above instructions would allow anyone logging into moodle to pass the user name, nick, password, email information to more than one database, if for example someone has to login several times on a system. Or am I looking at this from the wrong direction? What I want to do is have someone login to moodle and have all the user information sent to a central database or sent to more than one database. Is this possible?

Thanks

In reply to Barry Bell

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Martin Dougiamas發表於
Core developers的相片 Documentation writers的相片 Moodle HQ的相片 Particularly helpful Moodlers的相片 Plugin developers的相片 Testers的相片

Hey, the chess man is back!  微笑    Hi!

Cas Nuy recently contributed a module for PostNuke called pnMoodle that encapsulates Moodle and allows a single sign-on. Is that what you need?

See the bottom of this page for downloads and details: http://moodle.org/download/modules/


In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Barry Bell發表於

Hi Martin

Good morning, you must be just getting up, down under. smile

Nice to see your system has moved into the mainstream, as they say the cream always comes to the top. big grin

Hope things are well.

Just dropped by to see how things were going, and I was reading the article about alternate databases and was just wondering if it is possible to automaticly transfer user information to another database after the user logs into moodle.

I will look at the module, but I don't think it is exactly what I want.

Anyways you have a great day.

In reply to Martin Dougiamas

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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

claudia lezama quintana發表於
Hi martin, my name is Claudia, sorry if i can express very good enough in english, i want to understand better about authentication.

The explanation you made, means that the database of phpnuke is always in communication with the moodle database??, so the user name and password  in php nuke are the same for moodle??

Is the same thing with mambo??

i hope you can help me with that, because in the platform that i want to develop the people who buy my courses pay in my web site in mambo, after they pay, they can go to moodle, so i need to understand how make that connectionpensativo

this afternoon i going to try the external authentication like you explain before but with mambo, wishme luck.

Claudia
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

Mauricio Munera發表於

Hi everybody.

How can I connect the login page from .LRN to Moodle?

Mauro.

In reply to Mauricio Munera

Re: How to connect Moodle to a PostNuke database

chuks Ahamefula發表於

Hi,

Pls where can I download pnMoodle. The  links below are not working:

http://download.moodle.org/download.php/modules/pnMoodle.zip and http://download.moodle.org/download.php/modules/pnMoodle20.zip

Thanks for your response.

In reply to R Holden

Re: Postnuke "How To" (Please)

Ryan Kern-Mount發表於

You know what would be great? Make Moodle a PN Module or just embed Moodle using a tool like PostWrap. (Martin any comments?)

<Social Constructivist Rant>

Moodle has all the right ingredients for something quite extraordinary. While PostNuke is on the right path for a CMS product, Moodle has all of the necessarily components for an excellent alternative to other LMSes.

The Social Constructivist methodology is perfect for Internet-based projects. In fact, many of its detractors (and there are tons of them), participate in Social Constructivist acitivites on the Internet and don't even know it! HA! LOL.

The many to many model, which is the raw building blocks of social constructivism, IMHO, finds a happy (and somewhat secret) home on the Internet.

</Social Constructivist Rant>

Ryan Kern-Mount

In reply to Ryan Kern-Mount

Re: Postnuke "How To" (Please)

Martin Dougiamas發表於
Core developers的相片 Documentation writers的相片 Moodle HQ的相片 Particularly helpful Moodlers的相片 Plugin developers的相片 Testers的相片
You know what would be great? Make PostNuke into a Moodle module. 眨眼 眨眼

I would disagree that social constructivism is a methodology as such, it's more a perspective, but I think you're right that it's very compatible with the Internet!
In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: Postnuke "How To" (Please)

Ryan Kern-Mount發表於

> You know what would be great? Make PostNuke into a Moodle module.

Heck, either way would be OK with me. My current project is to create an LMS for my corporate PostNuke developer portal. Since I'm a closet social constructivist, which is usually not compatible (at least superficially) with your typical corporate ideology, Moodle makes perfect sense. And besides, it's really interesting!

Now I could run two separate sites, but that wouldn't be elegant. So I'll have to give it more thought.

> I would disagree that social constructivism is a methodology as such, it's more a perspective, but I think you're right that it's very compatible with the Internet! I would disagree that social constructivism is a methodology as such, it's more a perspective, but I think you're right that it's very compatible with the Internet!

I feel that is it a methodology; a somewhat anarchistic one. It's certainly a perspective too!  In the writing/critical theory pedagogy (my background), we've developed entire curricula around it. Weve also be chastised by the State of California in some respects for promoting it. Seems conservatives dont like it, but this is a conversation for another thread perhaps.

I dunno, maybe were arguing about our terms. Much of the same arguments have been made of Deconstruction: it's not something you practice/methodology, it's more of a way of being. (Now wouldn't Derrida love that assertion! What do you mean by "being"? wink.gif )

I think, however, that I'm among good company and I'm thrilled to have found a software project that upholds the just values of social constructivism.

Best Wishes,

Ryan Kern-Mount

In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: Postnuke "How To" (Please)

Abdul Rahman發表於
heh heh ... Try creating PostNuke a Resource and see it run in a moodle frame. It works better than moodle running in a PostNuke frame!