Distributed authentication

One of the more tedious moments in visiting a new website is filling out the registration form. Here at RotaryNews.com, you do not have to fill out a registration form if you are already a member of Jabber. This capability is called Distributed Authentication, and is unique to Drupal, the software which powers RotaryNews.com.

Distributed authentication enables a new user to input a username and password into the login box, and immediately be recognized, even if that user never registered at RotaryNews.com. This works because Drupal knows how to communicate with external registration databases. For example, lets say that new user 'Joe' is already a registered member of Delphi Forums. Drupal informs Joe on registration and login screens that he may login with his Delphi ID instead of registering with RotaryNews.com. Joe likes that idea, and logs in with a username of joe@remote.delphiforums.com and his usual Delphi password. Drupal then contacts the remote.delphiforums.com server behind the scenes (usually using XML-RPC, HTTP POST, or SOAP) and asks: "Is the password for user Joe correct?". If Delphi replies yes, then we create a new RotaryNews.com account for Joe and log him into it. Joe may keep on logging into RotaryNews.com in the same manner, and he will always be logged into the same account.

Jabber

a Jabber is an open source instant messaging system designed to give the power of choice and freedom back to the users of instant messaging. Not only does Jabber allow its users to use (and create) clients for numerous platforms, but it allows people to communicate to whomever they want in the way which is most convenient for them.

You may login to RotaryNews.com using a Jabber ID. The format of a Jabber ID is the same as an email address: name@server An example of valid Jabber ID is mwlily@jabber.com. Note that you must be able to access port 111 on the Jabber server from your web server. For example, sourceforge.net blocks port 111 so Jabber authentication does not work.