In the previous entry, we created a new Administration Module to hold blog management functionality, added a Module specific layout for it, and discussed the upcoming need to ensure this is only accessible by authorised Authors. In this entry I'll unravel some of Zend_Form's mysteries in adding a login form, before using Zend_Auth to implement authentication for authors.

He includes the code (controller and view) to add the login form as a part of the Author functionality and, using a few decorators to help him build the form how he likes it, extends the Zend_Form component to make his form with username, password and submit elements. He throws in some validation and a bit of error checking to finish it off.

Since there have been numerous tutorials written regarding Zend_Auth, I won't attempt to make a full tutorial on it. If you are curious, google around, you'll find them. Today though, I'd like to show you a cool new piece that has been added to Auth in Zend Framework 1.5, the new Zend_Auth_Adapter_OpenId.

Cal explains what the OpenID system is all about before getting into the code that uses it. He suggests MyOpenID as a provider to register at and includes the code to make a request to them to authenticate a username/password combo. The actual authentication check is only about three or four lines of code.

I've finally updated the source code to my Zend Framework tutorial so that the hidden field in the form is named "id" rather than "ID". A minor error that meant that editing didn't work! This is because in PHP $_POST['id'] is not the same as $_POST['ID']!

His other update was on the Zend_Auth tutorial to change the database variable to make it more consistent. Updated zip files for both are now available.

Claudio Cossio has translated both my Zend Framework tutorial and my Zend Auth Tutorial into Spanish!

Find out more about the two tutorials (and their translations) from their pages on Rob's site - Getting Started with the Zend Framework and Getting Started with Zend_Auth.

• The team at developpez.com have created a French version of his Zend_Auth tutorial - Débutez avec le Zend Framework
• A link to some handy tips on combining the Getting Started tutorial with Oracle.

Both of these tutorials are found on Rob's site - Getting Started with the Zend Framework and Getting Started with Zend_Auth.

Just a quick heads up to let you know that that Jason Qi has published the Simplified Chinese version of my Getting Started with Zend Auth tutorial. You can find the PDF on his download site.

He also mentions an update that's been made to it (correcting a few issues) to bring its version up to 1.0.4.

The first two, related to his introductory tutorial, announce the release of the latest version (1.3.0, to correspond with the latest Zend Framework release) and questions people have had about it - two questions: "Why did you change the functionality of the BaseURL?" and "In the previous version the template files were called filename.tpl.php. Now they are called filename.phtml. Why did you do this?"

The third post introduces a handy new tutorial that walks you through the use of the Zend_Auth component for the Zend Framework. It gives the exampl eof setting up user information, the changes that need to be made to the bootstrapping file, and creating login/logout functionality (as well as how to protect pages).

After submitting the initial example of how Zend_Auth and Zend_Acl could be implemented Gavin pointed out areas that weren't really addressed in my proof of concept and it could potentially confuse newcomers to the way MVC is utilised. I'd like to clarify that post to a) Address those concerns and b) see if there's any constructive criticism of the process that could benefit everyone.

He sets up the site layout (including where the actions lie) and defines some of the access rules the script will follow. From there, he creates a bootstrap file and an index.php to work with it. On top of this, he builds the key piece - the Auth.php - to handle the validation of the users.