Single-Sign-On Solutions Available with Vanilla

One of the most in-demand features of Vanilla, as cited by our customers, is the Single-Sign-On capability, available through a plugin.  Single-Sign-On deals with user authentication, and it describes a user experience where a logged-in user from one system can click through to another system without being asked to sign-in again.  This is especially important when trying to create a unified customer experience, so that the customer never feels like they have left one site and gone to another – rather they feel like they are still on the same site.  Since forums are typically an extension of a site, community or application, this feature is usually very important.  As an example, with Vanilla’s advanced Single-Sign-On capabilities it is possible to log customers into a support forum directly from the software product they are using, creating a seamless customer support experience.

So how does Single-Sign-On actually work with Vanilla? It works through first enabling the correct plugin for the forum, either ProxyConnect or jsConnect, depending on the particular use case.  While there are technical reasons why one or the other would be adopted, at the core they both work in a similar manner.  In both cases, the plugin is enabled to interact with a library that is created for the external site or application that the forum will be interacting with to achieve the Single-Sign-On.  When talking to the Vanilla sales or project team about your particular case, we will be able to quickly identify which plugin is right for you and what template library to provide for you to be able to create the necessary library on your side to complete the Single-Sign-On connection.