User management and authentication

[eluser]TheFuzzy0ne[/eluser]
Hi everyone. I'm at my wits end with deciding on how best to manage my users.

I would like an object that represents a user, so that administrators and users can change certain things, such as passwords and other profile information. I am also looking into how I can handle the users login, logout, and any bans.

The problem is I can't decide how to separate the two tasks. I was thinking of using a model to represent a user, and I was thinking about extending the Session class for things such as logging in and out.

My dilemma is that I find the line between both of these seemingly separate tasks blurry at best. One thing I am trying to integrate, is a banning system, where the ban will automatically take effect when it's placed, so if a user is logged in and they are banned, they will be logged out on their next page request.

I've seen FreakAuth, and EZAuth, and SimpleAuth Lib, but none of these seem to be the solution I require.

I'd really appreciate suggestions here on how I should achieve both of these things. Should I extend the session class? Should I use a library for both parts, or just for one and use a model for another? Should I extend the Session class? I'm seriously stuck on this and my blood pressure is going through the roof as I've already spent far too much time on this project and haven't really got very far.

Many thanks in advance.

[eluser]fireport[/eluser]
have u looked at DX auth

[eluser]TheFuzzy0ne[/eluser]
Thanks for the suggestion. I think that's a lot closer to what I need. Something that just drops in, rather than a pre-built application that I need to work around.

Thanks again.

[eluser]fireport[/eluser]
no problem .. i just started using a few days ago in an application and i am really impressed so far!

[eluser]Fielder[/eluser]
When you guys installed this, did you literally copy the "application/plugins/ folder into your CI application/plugins/ folder".... thus making a subdirectory called plugins inside plugins? This is what the installation says, but I've just moved the files into the /plugins/ folder without a subdirectory.

And the captcha folder, is it inside your root codeigniter folder (alongside user_guide folder)? Or inside codeigniter/system/application folder?


Lastly, I always get a kick out of your LOL skates avatar Fuzzy. Any story behind that?

Thanks.

[eluser]TheFuzzy0ne[/eluser]
I never installed it. I just rolled my own.

As for the lollerskates - no, there's no story behind them. I just spotted the avatar on Google images, and decided to borrow it.