I've seen a bunch of posts dancing around this issue, but I can't seem to find any indicating that it has ever been resolved. Before I start the process of installing DBMan, I need to figure out if it's the right product to use for the job...

What I need is a single database with 4 different levels of permissions (admin, guest, member1, and member2). I figure this could be doable through the Add Permissions mod.

However, I only want people to be able to sign up as member1 or member2 if they're already a paying member of the site (which needs to be verified by checking against a .htpass file...)

So... I have an idea for a somewhat bizarre way of accomplishing this task, but I really have no idea if it would work and I'd rather save myself the task of setting it all up if it's doomed to fail...

What I'm thinking is... I could maybe have three different .cgi files and three different .cfg files (one for each member type and one for admin/guest) and tell them all to reference the same .db file. Then, I could put each "special" cgi-cfg pair in a separate directory, protected by a .htaccess file.

Users would access the appropriate .cgi file by clicking on a link from a static .html page (i.e. "Click here if you are a member", "Click here if you are a guest", etc.)

Does this make any sense? Does anyone have any idea if this would work? I know it's a somewhat crude solution, but searching through the forum and the various mods, it's the best idea I've been able to come up with...

Thanks in advance for any ideas or advice.

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Fractured Atlas :: Liberate the Artist
Services: Healthcare, Fiscal Sponsorship, Marketing, Education, The Emerging Artists Fund

Not sure what 'dancing around this issue' means however, there has been very little that wasn't "doable" with DBMan that I've seen over the years.



Yes, you can add multiple permissions based on your parameters.



It seems redundant to duplicate the cgi & cfg file ... the database itself is what you want to control access to. The htaccess wouldn't really do anything different than permission levels within the database. What you'd eventually do is open the .htaccess file to validate membership, if found - proceed to the sign-up screen. If not found, return an error the name was not found, contact the webmaster if there is a problem.

First order of business would be to get your db up and running with the mods you want to use (Add Permissions, etc).


~ Karen

Karen -

Thanks so much for responding.

What I didn't realize was that there was a way to use DBMan with .htaccess. I was under the impression that DBMan had to use its auth file to handle permissions, and that there wasn't an easy way to get it to interact with an .htaccess file. But if I understand you properly, you're saying that I can tell DBMan to check against an .htaccess file before allowing people to sign up. Is that correct? How would I do that? Is there a mod for that?

I will begin setting up DBMan with the Add Permissions mod, having faith that once I do so, there will be a way to accomplish what I need to do.

Thanks again for your help.

Dave Z.

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Fractured Atlas :: Liberate the Artist
Services: Healthcare, Fiscal Sponsorship, Marketing, Education, The Emerging Artists Fund