[pmwiki-users] Rethinking passwords and authorization

[Sandy]

Stirling Westrup wrote:
> Ryan R. Varick wrote:
>> I've always kind of wondered why the syntax is as the way it is
>> anyway.  I certainly think it would be more intuitive if there were a
>> set of common prefixes, like
>>
>>   password:quick
>>   user:alice (or id:alice, if that's preferred)
>>   group:authors
>>
>> I don't know if this would make parsing any easier, but I don't think
>> the current system is "the best we can do" with regard to legibility.
> 
> This has the additional advantage that those prefixes can be broken out
> via some sort of config table so that new ones could be created by new
> recipes. If someone needs to add a floon authentication method, they
> would just do something like:
> 
>   $AuthenticationHandler['floon']=floonfunc();
> 
> and then might have a line like:
> 
>   grp:authors pw:quick floon:17


I like this idea. Lots of flexibility for the future.

As for what to type to indicate each level, I vote for something that's 
easy to read, even if it's more letters. For those who use it a lot, 
include a way to add to config.php that "pw:" is the same as "password:".

Of course, I know there'll be a way to $EnableOldMethod, and probably a 
script to update old sites.

Maybe separate lists by semi-colons, so:
group:cats,humans; author:Kipling; password:JustSoStories;

If spaces in the name, use quotes
password:"Just So Stories", "Jungle Book";

I like the + and - ability, but don't see myself using it.

Sandy