[ian1119]

Hi Steve

Trying to explain to a client how link ‘thinks’ under different scenarios. The FAQ is helpful in this, but for thoroughness I would like to be able to be even more pedantic in my explanation. Could you take a look over the following text and let me know if anything is incorrect, and if so how it should be amended?

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How the Connections ‘link’ extension works:

Each time a user logs in to WordPress who is NOT yet identified as being the owner of a Connections entry, the ‘Link’ extension is triggered. Link will then check each Connections entry in turn, starting with the oldest, looking for the first occurrence of an email address which matches the email address of the WordPress user. If it finds a match it will generate and save a persistent ID (a ‘link’), which means that for the remainder of the current session, and for all future sessions, the WordPress user can edit their (now linked) Connections entry.

If a user changes an email address AFTER a link has been established in either WordPress, OR Connections, or both, the existing link between their WordPress user account and Connections entry will still be maintained. This means it is possible for records to be edited after the link has been established, such that different emails come to be associated with the WordPress user to the Connections record owned by the user.

Link will work if an entry is added to Connections BEFORE a user with the same email address is added to WordPress. The new WordPress user must login to establish the link.

Link will work if an entry is added to Connections AFTER a user with the same email address has already been added to WordPress. The existing WordPress user must login to establish the link. If the WordPress user was logged in when making the a Connections entry with their email address they will have to log out and then in again to establish the link.

Link will not be able to determine that a second Connections entry is intended to supersede an existing one. Once a link has been established if changes need to be made the existing Connections entry must be edited.

[ian1119]

‘Steve’? Brain clearly fried, I don’t believe you use the diminutive form. Sorry Steven!

[Steven Zahm]

@ ian1119

I’ve read over this a few times, seems very thorough. A couple thoughts.

If the user has access to the “Your Directory Entry” profile admin page and they add their details there, there is no need to logout/login for the link to be added between the WordPress user and the Connections entry. The link will be created when they add their entry.

Similarly, if the Form extension is installed and activated, the user can have the opportunity to add their directory entry on the frontend using Form. This will also immediately link the WordPress user and their Connections entry.

Where this can be tricky … Form can still accept guest submissions which if a user did submit while not logged in, the user would have to login for the WordPress user and Connections entry to be linked. This confusion can be mitigated by disabling the “Submit New Entry” list action and enabling the “Add/Edit My Directory Entry” list action on the Connections : Settings admin page under the Display tab”. The later will only be shown to the user while they are logged in. The link destination will depend if Form is installed or not. If it is not, the link will take the user to the admin “My Directory Entry” profile page. If it is, it will take them to a special page on the frontend where they can add/edit their entry.

I hope that makes sense!

[ian1119]

Noted. Thanks for that Steven.

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