strongbox & wordpress

[vdbucks]

Wondering if strongbox integrates into wordpress, basically so our members can log directly into wordpress as opposed to the 'standard' members area login methods.

I sent the stronbox guys an email last week, but they don't seem to answer emails so maybe someone here knows.

I do know that on their compatibility page, they have wordpress listed, but haven't been able to find any other info. Nothing in the docs, etc., that I've found so far...

[harvey]

If it does it now, it is a new feature, it didn't work with WP some time ago. At least not using it "out of the box" so to speak. But I'm sure that with some DB work it should work fine

[Jensen]

Originally Posted by vdbucks

I sent the stronbox guys an email last week, but they don't seem to answer emails so maybe someone here knows..

And you still consider using them? If they can't spend a couple of minutes answering an email....

[georgeyw]

What's the link for strong box?

Also what is it like to intergrate with a custom CMS?

[fris]

i was trying to get magic members working with strongbox, anyone else have an issue with the magic members liscensing server not being able to verify?

[raymor]

Sorry if you didn't get the email reply. We're doing a site like that right now. We actually have three different ways to integrate. We sent you an email a coulpe of days ago and a couple of emails today. Call us at 979-530-1300 if you don't find our email, or ICQ 7208627.

I think the best is to get the full protection of the Strongbox log in system, which then automatically logs them into Wordpress as well. You can use the Wordpress login page instead, going the other direction,but that's weaker.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by fris

i was trying to get magic members working with strongbox, anyone else have an issue with the magic members liscensing server not being able to verify?

You CAN, but in general Strongbox by itself will do everything that Magic Members does, so generally there's nothing to be gained by adding Magic Members to the mix. It just adds unnecessary complexity.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by georgeyw

What's the link for strong box?

Also what is it like to intergrate with a custom CMS?

No integration required. Your CMS should simply read $_SERVER['REMOTE_USER'], just like with any standards compliant system.

Links are in my sig.

[mikesouth]

Ray are you saying that you guys have a solution that will handle the member logins and the integrate with ccbill and do the protection for a wordpress based site?

If so Im interested bro

Thanks man

[raymor]

Originally Posted by Jensen

And you still consider using them? If they can't spend a couple of minutes answering an email....

FYI we replied to him within a day. Apparently he didn't get / see / notice that reply.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by mikesouth

Ray are you saying that you guys have a solution that will handle the member logins and the integrate with ccbill and do the protection for a wordpress based site?

If so Im interested bro

Thanks man

Sure, yes. Any combination of billers, any CMS.

Because we realize that our job is authentication and authorization ONLY and we don't try to manage content or billing or anything else, Strongbox works nicely with any standard billing system, any CMS, etc. If the content management system is confused and thinks it's supposed to be doing security, with it's own log in, then we just tweak things so the content management system sticks to managing content.

[fris]

Originally Posted by raymor

You CAN, but in general Strongbox by itself will do everything that Magic Members does, so generally there's nothing to be gained by adding Magic Members to the mix. It just adds unnecessary complexity.

they wanted to use wp to manage the content etc.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by fris

they wanted to use wp to manage the content etc.

Yeah, so you have Wordpress and Strongbox. No need for Magic Members.
I've heard from one person who likes how Magic Members puts different functions in one centralized admin, but everyone else who has mentioned magic Members has mistakenly thought it would provide some functionality they needed. In all of those cases, Strongbox or CCBill already provided what they needed.

Even if you weren't using Strongbox, having Wordpress recognize members from CCBill is a three line plugin. No need for thousands of lines of unnecessary complexity from Magic Members.

[mikesouth]

Thanks Ray will be hitting you up soon on that. and for anyone considering let me tell you straight up that Ray is the best, his product works, he responds quickly and his customer service has been nothing short of stellar. I liked it so well I link him from my blog...for free.

i think when someone has a product this good at a reasonable price I have no problem endorsing it...non paid.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by mikesouth

Thanks Ray will be hitting you up soon on that. and for anyone considering let me tell you straight up that Ray is the best, his product works, he responds quickly and his customer service has been nothing short of stellar. I liked it so well I link him from my blog...for free.

i think when someone has a product this good at a reasonable price I have no problem endorsing it...non paid.

Thanks Mike.

[bDok]

I think every time I've needed to talk to ray he has picked up the phone during normal business hours. Guy rocks.

[vdbucks]

Originally Posted by raymor

FYI we replied to him within a day. Apparently he didn't get / see / notice that reply.

Well, not exactly. I sent an presales inquiry email nearly a week ago. Finally got a reply on that last night.

The purchase email was replied to within 24 hours however. But I'm still waiting for the installation to be finished. Initially Ali was going to do it (I assume, since Ali was my initial contact).. Then it was passed over to Elias whom I was speaking to and working with about 8 hours ago to get things installed. But he has since disappeared and now I'm not sure where things stand.

[Jensen]

Originally Posted by raymor

FYI we replied to him within a day. Apparently he didn't get / see / notice that reply.

Happy to hear that

[raymor]

Originally Posted by vdbucks

Well, not exactly. I sent an presales inquiry email nearly a week ago. Finally got a reply on that last night.

That's what I'm saying - it seems you didn't get our reply a week ago. Now it sounds like an email we sent you yesterday may not have made it to you - spam filters or whatever, who knows. I'm checking to see if we can finish it up without any additional information and if not I'll call you.

[vdbucks]

Originally Posted by raymor

That's what I'm saying - it seems you didn't get our reply a week ago. Now it sounds like an email we sent you yesterday may not have made it to you - spam filters or whatever, who knows. I'm checking to see if we can finish it up without any additional information and if not I'll call you.

Definitely not going to spam.. maybe lost in transport.. the last email I received was from Ali informing that Elias would be handling the rest of the installation, and then one from Elias asking me to enable SSI. After that I was working with Elias for a while via ICQ, then eventually he went silent and I haven't heard a word back since.

I sent a followup email 12 hours ago asking if you guys were going to finish the installation today ( sent it to support, Ali and Elias) but haven't received a response.

We use google apps business for our email, haven't noticed any prolonged issues receiving emails so maybe they got lost somewhere along the line.

Not sure if you tried to call yet, if so my skype was closed.. Elias sounded like he had everything once I enabled SSI but I'm available for call now if you need anything else done on my end.

[vdbucks]

For some reason, post edit isn't working... I can also be reached on ICQ @ 612571370

[TisMe]

10 paysites running WP and StrongBox.

Ray has been a huge help with my different backends and such, plus clonebox replaced my server when it crashed the other night.

In Ray I Trust,

Hallowed be thy perl.

[vdbucks]

Out of curiosity... when we set up our geoDNS servers, will we need to purchase additional licenses for each? All servers will be serving the same domain, so not really sure how that works when it comes to our sb license.

[raymor]

I don't know what's up with email because it definitely sounds like you didn't receive the one yesterday saying Strongbox was installed. I'll try you on ICQ and phone. Then I can see uf we have a problem with outgoing emails on our end - emails stuck in the outgoing queue or anything.

Originally Posted by vdbucks

Out of curiosity... when we set up our geoDNS servers, will we need to purchase additional licenses for each? All servers will be serving the same domain, so not really sure how that works when it comes to our sb license.

If they are standards compliant, they will be invisible to Strongbox and everything else. Just as you don't notice your ISP's forward proxies, you shouldn't notice your own reverse proxies.

Unfortunately there are several CDNs out there which are nowhere near standards compliant. Some will return http//:google.com/?q=two+girls+one+cup when you ask for http://google.com?q=spongebob because they completely ignore the query string. Obviously if you use a broken system like that, the results depend on exactly how it's broken.

[vdbucks]

Originally Posted by raymor

I don't know what's up with email because it definitely sounds like you didn't receive the one yesterday saying Strongbox was installed. I'll try you on ICQ and phone. Then I can see uf we have a problem with outgoing emails on our end - emails stuck in the outgoing queue or anything.

Yeah, something somewhere is going wrong with emails as I've only received a few, and none regarding sb being installed. I'm available via phone/icq now if you need anything though.

Originally Posted by raymor

If they are standards compliant, they will be invisible to Strongbox and everything else. Just as you don't notice your ISP's forward proxies, you shouldn't notice your own reverse proxies.

Unfortunately there are several CDNs out there which are nowhere near standards compliant. Some will return http//:google.com/?q=two+girls+one+cup when you ask for http://google.com?q=spongebob because they completely ignore the query string. Obviously if you use a broken system like that, the results depend on exactly how it's broken.

Well, when we have the time to do it, I'm most probably going to set the whole thing up in house using either bind9 or powerdns. I generally don't like to reply on 3rd party solutions when it comes to major projects... I like knowing exactly what's going on behind the scenes so I can dig in and resolve any problems, instead of waiting for some low level tech to forward me to another low level tech to forward me to a medium level tech to finally forward me to someone who might have a clue.

In the end, if it requires more licenses, then we'll so what we gotta do ><

[raymor]

Originally Posted by vdbucks

Well, when we have the time to do it, I'm most probably going to set the whole thing up in house using either bind9 or powerdns. I generally don't like to reply on 3rd party solutions when it comes to major projects... I like knowing exactly what's going on behind the scenes so I can dig in and resolve any problems, instead of waiting for some low level tech to forward me to another low level tech to forward me to a medium level tech to finally forward me to someone who might have a clue.

In the end, if it requires more licenses, then we'll so what we gotta do ><

As far as DNS, we use PowerDNS for Clonebox and it's worked well for us. It also works well for Wikipedia. I was impressed with how they handled this vulnerability I discovered last month:
http://www.debian.org/security/2012/dsa-2385

[fris]

would like to see a demo for throttlebox and how it works

[vdbucks]

Originally Posted by raymor

As far as DNS, we use PowerDNS for Clonebox and it's worked well for us. It also works well for Wikipedia. I was impressed with how they handled this vulnerability I discovered last month:
http://www.debian.org/security/2012/dsa-2385

Yeah, that's likely what we'll end up using in the end.. read a lot of good things about it so far.

On another note, not sure if you guys are still open or whatnot.. I left you a few messages on ICQ and emailed Ali back regarding an error activating the strongbox-authenticated-already plugin.

Error message is:

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare wp_hash_password() (previously declared in /path/to/site/wp-includes/pluggable.php:1415) in /path/to/site/wp-content/plugins/strongbox-authenticated-already/strongbox-authenticated-already.php on line 94

[vdbucks]

So just to clear up any possible confusion for people who are considering using strongbox...

The failure in communication wasn't due to them not replying to emails or anything of the such. Believe it or not, it was due to emails lost in transit. Overall I counted a dozen or so emails between the both of us that were never received on the other end.

In the end, Ray worked with me on this tonight until we got it up and running.. so a big thanks to him on that.

We're now very happy with them as a company as well as their product now that we realized the problem wasn't on either end of us, but somewhere in the middle.

Thanks again Ray

[VIXEN ESCORTS]

Hi Ray, I have an email from you about two years ago explaining how to get relative URL's in Wordpress so SB can work, is that still upto date ? Or are there cleverer ways now ? The problem is when you say in the email "- Under options, set wordpress and blog urls to /members" WP doesn't let you do that, it says it's an invalid URL.
I won't need members to actually log into WP just come through SB into the members area and use WP as the CMS.

[raymor]

Originally Posted by UKVixens

Hi Ray, I have an email from you about two years ago explaining how to get relative URL's in Wordpress so SB can work, is that still upto date ? Or are there cleverer ways now ? The problem is when you say in the email "- Under options, set wordpress and blog urls to /members" WP doesn't let you do that, it says it's an invalid URL.

There is a plugin now so no adjustments to settings are needed.

[VIXEN ESCORTS]

Thanks, how do I get that ? is it your product ?

[raymor]

Originally Posted by UKVixens

Thanks, how do I get that ? is it your product ?

Indeed it is:
https://www.bettercgi.com/sb5/