Introduction to Integration Plugins
From AMember Pro Manual
aMember Pro has ability to integrate with third-party applications. If you have such an integration plugin installed and configured, aMember will maintain users database (table) in third-party script, so your aMember subscribers will be automatically added to your Bulletin Board, CMS or HelpDesk users database. When their subscription expires, users will be automatically disabled or (depending on the plugin) removed from third-party database.
Please note - this integration is usually one-way: users are copied from aMember to third-party script, and never vice-versa (from third-party script to aMember). Second way would require changes to your third-party script, that would be hard to maintain and would make troubles to upgrade your third-party script.
Also, if user has the same username and password in aMember and a third-party script, it is often possible to implement single-login - when user is logged-in into aMember, it becomes logged-in into third-party script and vice-versa.
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[edit] How It Works
- When user do sign-up in aMember, aMember will check for existing user in third-party users database. If user with the same username is exists in third-party database, it will check that user enter the same email and password. If yes, user will be allowed to go through signup in aMember. If something differs, user will be asked to choose another username, because entered is already taken. If user with the same username is not found in third-party database, member will be allowed to signup and will get pending status in aMember.
- As user completes payment, aMember will upgrade his record in third-party database (set another usergroup) or will add new record into third-party users database.
- When user subscription expires or user removed from aMember db, aMember will set "default" usergroup in third-party database for this user.
[edit] Alternative Description of Integration Plugins
Plugin means and works like a connector. So if you wanna connect aMember to the phpBB (for example), you can install a plugin for that program i.e. phpBB.
What plugin does?
It will map fields on the leftside i.e. aMember system fields and shoot them on the right hand side i.e. phpBB.
So if a user registers, then the username and password etc. will NOT be entered firstly into phpBB anymore. It will get into the aMember database. Thereafter when a user activates by validating his email, or makes payment if that is required, his data record will be added to the phpBB.
Thereafter you can also install a plugin of Joomla.
Then the user data will be inserted from left hand side i.e. from aMember to both the plugins i.e. phpBB _AS_WELL_AS_ Joomla databases!
Understand?
Here is does not matter, if the right hand side existed or not. If it did, fine, you will have to get that data from right hand side into the left hand side first (using export in phpBB, then import in aMember). Also if on the right hand side, if one existed, you can add a second one i.e. Joomla. Later you can also add a thrid and fourth one. For all those additions, you will need a connector i.e. plugins for those databases.
[edit] Existing Plugins
You may find recent list of existing plugins here.
[edit] Developing New Plugins
It is easy to create new integration plugins, but of course serious PHP programming skills required.
