Integration with multiple Websites

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

Is there any way I can call this forum from multiple website?
Example - Suppose I have 3 Websites and I want to call forum application (separate application) from each of the website and based on calling website It should show thier Category Option and Forum Index. If this is possible then how would I change header and footer run time based on calling website. I am JAVA person and have good understanding of J2EE. I like this forum website the most and really want to have integrated with all 3 websites.
[originally posted on jforum.net by vijay_kr]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

You can do this if you can work out the SSO issues. Jforum user ids have to be unique across all sites.

The other issue is to make sure that the different SSO users are in the correct groups and that the rights are defined so that they can't see each other's groups.

FWIW, jForum can also run multiple instances on the same server. Just use different JDBC URLs to point to a different db, catalog, schema, or the what-ever-your-DB-calls-it...
[originally posted on jforum.net by monroe]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

It is fine if user logged in but we don't have login authentication in all 3 websites. Here is scenario i want. I want to install this forum separately as an application and it can be called from all 3 websites using menu option. When any one click on forum option from ABC.com site then it should show only abc.com specific categories and discussions and if any user clicks on forum option from xyz.com website then it should show xyz.com specific setup and same with other website too.
I have 3 websites and want to call forums from outside instead of including inside individual application. If you want to discuss this over the phone then pls provide u'r contact #.

Let me know please. I really like this forum and ready to customize it also. I am a technical person and ready to change if it is required.

[originally posted on jforum.net by vijay_kr]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

Well, I can tell you what might be possible but you'll still have to dig around in the code and figure out what fits into your situation.

First, it's possible to do this via a "security by obscurity" method, by just modifying the templates. The easy way would be to have a naming scheme that you could parse category names into site categories, e.g. abc.com - General News. You could just add some Freemarker code to the templates to filter out stuff based on the server host name.

The downside is that if someone has the URL to a different site's forum or posting, they can see it. Also there are issues with recent topics and search acting across all forums.

The more complicated method is to use jForum's built in security. The security model does allow for limiting access to specific categories and forums to specific groups. You'll need to figure out how you want to manage users across the sites. Either via SSO or using jForums users.

If you want "anonymous" access, you'll need to dig around in the code to determine where the decision is made to log in a person as an anonymous user. (Sorry can't remember off the top of my head).

The issue here is that you will need 3 different anonymous users, each with the correct rights to a matching server.

The code change would be to use the calling host name decide which of the anonymous users to use.

One big issue here is that you'll have to have a very specific process for adding new categories and forums. One that sets up access rights for the different groups correctly. All this is do-able via the Admin screens, but is prone to human error.


[originally posted on jforum.net by monroe]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

What do you suggest? All of 3 websites are 3 different applications. Do you see any issue merging forum's website with each and every application. All 3 websites are running on same virtual server with 512MB ram and they are not very much memory extensive. Is there any overload in terms of memory if I combine forum codes with all 3 applications individually?
[originally posted on jforum.net by vijay_kr]