Hi everyone, I am thinking of integrating an upcoming WordPress blog with a new vBulletin forum through Facebook. WordPress will have DISQUS commenting which will enable users to post comments only through their Facebook accounts. Further vBulletin would have only Facebook login and so users will use only facebook to use my site. What are the merits and demerits of this approach? Has anyone ever tried this before? Thanks for your time!
I see more and more sites doing this everday, it is not new. It is along the lines of what OpenID started a while back, signing in securely across multiple sites with one central ID. In addition to Facebook, you could also add in other systems such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and others if possible. The more options to log in the better.
the reason for doing the same is that the integration plugins available are unreliable and break with updates. While facebook integration seems pretty clean to me I wonder what % of users will actually have a facebook account and how many of them will be willing to actually use it on my site ??
That would depend on what your blog is about. Every social site has its own types of users. From what I have seen of Facebook, a lot of those users just like to post on walls and play Flash games (well the family around me does, so don't go by what I say). Tweeters are simpler folk who like to text message. MySpace, what can I say, mostly kids. Then you have the techies over on Digg, bookmarkers on Deli.cio.us and so on. As far as WordPress/vBulleting/SocialSiteX integration is concerned, you are still going to need one common User Control module and that will require some programming on your part. I don't think you are going to find a one-size-fits-all appliction out there, you can get close and modify it to your own tastes, get to know the programming, and take control to see that it doesn't break. Relying on other programming to control your site will get you into hot water somewhere down the line.
that is the kind of advise I was looking for... i would start with keeping the default login system of both WP and vB along with Facebook and see how it goes.
If you know of a good "bridge" mod for vBulletin or plugin for WordPress that will integrate the user systems, I would start there. Eventually, you are going to need this one way or the other and might as well start investing your time in researching that aspect. One thing I know is that members do not like two login systems.