In this project, a customer portal was developed on TYPO3, where the standard authentication was replaced by a custom solution to use Filemaker as a central authentication source (master source). Authentication and user management are based entirely on Filemaker data, allowing flexible management and secure control of user rights. The system has been designed to support long session times, perform periodic authorization checks in the background and has a fallback system in case Filemaker is temporarily unavailable. This solution also offers multi-site functionality with specific authentication requirements and configurations for each site.
Functionalities in detail
- Customized authentication with Filemaker as master data source:
- TYPO3's default authentication has been replaced by a custom-developed solution that uses Filemaker as the master source for user data and authentication.
- This solution allows all login and user information to be managed in Filemaker, keeping the system consistent and centralized.
- Support for long sessions and periodic authorization checks:
- Customers can log in to the website and stay logged in for months. Nevertheless, a regular check is carried out in the background to determine whether the user still has access rights and whether their authorizations have changed.
- This function ensures that user rights are always up to date and access can be adjusted immediately without users having to actively intervene.
- Multi-site installation with specific authentication requirements per website:
- The TYPO3 installation is a multi-site environment where each website has specific requirements and configurations for authentication, such as different user groups and different access rights.
- This flexibility allows customers to work with multiple sites and receive individual authentication policies per site.
- Automatic deactivation and synchronization of user rights:
- When customer accounts are deactivated in Filemaker, the TYPO3 system recognizes this during the next regular synchronization and automatically deactivates access on the TYPO3 site as well.
- This mechanism ensures that access for customers always remains correct and up to date with the authorizations managed in Filemaker.
- Fallback solution if Filemaker is unavailable:
- If Filemaker is temporarily unavailable, the system falls back to encrypted credentials that were securely stored in TYPO3 at the first successful login.
- This fallback solution enables a seamless user experience, as customers continue to have access even during temporary Filemaker outages as long as their permissions have not been revoked.