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Distributed authentication

One of the more tedious moments in visiting a new website is filling out the registration form. Here at Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187, you do not have to fill out a registration form if you are already a member of Drupal. This capability is called distributed authentication, and Drupal, the software which powers Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187, fully supports it.

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 Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187. 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 Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187. 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 Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187 account for Joe and log him into it. Joe may keep on logging into Cub Scout Pack 187 & Boy Scout Troop 187 in the same manner, and he will always be logged into the same account.

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