SSO Link

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A link to login

It's possible for a link to be created that will log a person into h2g2. This by-passes all SSO screens for migrated accounts, and takes non-migrated accounts to a more digibox-friendly1 SSO screen.

Link format:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/signon/mainscript.pl?service=h2g2&username=user&password=pass

Note: There are no line breaks or spaces in the link. It just appears this way on some screens due to wrapping of the text.

Usage

To use the link, the person should:

  1. Replace user with their username2. Note that the username is not necessarily the same as the nickname. Before SSO, the nickname was changable; the username - used only to login - was not.

  2. Replace pass with their password3.

  3. Send an email to themself containing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/signon/mainscript.pl?service=h2g2&username=user&password=pass" target="_blank">Login to h2g2</a>

  4. Click the link. The person will be logged in and taken to the h2g2 front page in their chosen skin if their account has already been migrated; or taken to a digibox-friendly SSO page to migrate their account if their account has not yet been migrated.

Advantages

  • The link will never stop working, unless the person changes their username or password.

  • Contained in the link is the username and password in plain text, so both of these details can be retrieved if forgotten by the user.

  • The link is easy to create, and only needs to be created once for each account, unless the password is changed (in which case the link needs to be recreated).

  • No lengthy forms have to be filled in every time the person attempts to login, and, if the username and password are correct, there is no risk of accidentally creating a new DNA account.

Disadvantages

  • If another person saw the link being typed, they would know the username and password for the account. However, it's possible to change the password of an account in the usual way once logged in using the link, although a new link would then need to be created with the new password used.

Further Information

Questions and comments may be added to F1657415?thread=333750.

1If the digibox is using the updated Telewest software, the form can be used.2Their post-SSO username if their account has already been migrated or their pre-SSO username if their account has not yet been migrated.3Their post-SSO password if their account has already been migrated or their pre-SSO password if their account has not yet been migrated.

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