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Unique Email Addresses

» Submitted by erik on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 1:30pm

The Palos Verdes Library District just went live with SOPAC on July 13, and we have run into the issue of users needing a unique email address to register. This issue mainly effects couples who share an email address and parents who associate their email account with their children's accounts so they receive notifications that holds are ready for pickup.

A June 30, 2009 post on the Darien Public Library site shows that there are new alternatives to unique email addresses:
http://www.darienlibrary.org/node/1693

Are these alternatives available in the default SOPAC package?

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Submitted by jblyberg on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 5:08pm.

Erik,
I've written a custom module for Darien library that adds those additional elements and I've attached it for your review. We ran in to the same issue and had to accommodate our users, especially in preparation for our Summer Reading program.

AttachmentSize
dl_users.zip 4.81 KB
Submitted by erik on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 8:50pm.

Thank you for the custom module! We will definitely check it out.
Best,
Erik

Submitted by jblyberg on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 11:44pm.

No problem. I should actually mention that it's two modules, but I'm sure you'll notice that. It also depends on logintoboggan. It allows for users to share email, as well as register without email if they have a valid library card number. Remember, though, that if they don't register with an email address, they will not be able to recover their passwords without help. Also, you'll probably notice some mail errors in your Drupal log--they can be ignored.

Submitted by smaskit on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 5:23pm.

Allowing multiple accounts to share the same password creates a possible problem scenario. If such a user uses the forgot password form, and submits their email address, Drupal will have no way of knowing which user is making the request. Initially, one might think that's okay since the email will go to the same email address regardless. However, the email will contain login information for a specific account, and we obviously want it to be for the correct account.

The functions below add validation to check for this scenario. If it occurs, the form is rejected, and the user is asked to submit their username.

function dl_sharedemail_form_user_pass_alter($form, $form_state) {
  if (!array_key_exists('#validate', $form) || (!in_array('dl_sharedmail_user_pass_validate', $form['#validate']))) {
    $form['#validate'][] = 'dl_sharedmail_user_pass_validate';
  }
}
 
function dl_sharedmail_user_pass_validate($form, &$form_state) {
  if (strstr($form_state['values']['name'], '@')) {
    $count = db_result(db_query("SELECT COUNT(mail) FROM {users} WHERE mail = '%s'", $form_state['values']['name']));
    if ($count > 1) {
      form_set_error('name', 'Your email address is shared by other user(s). Please submit your username.');
    }
  }
}

Submitted by jblyberg on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 10:03am.

Nice fix, Sid. Thanks.