[Zope] LoginManager and ZPatterns - Sparse Install Docs, Help.

[Darin Lee]

Zopistas,

Maybe I'm making this harder than it needs to be.

I want to set up a membership system for the site I am developing with Zope.
I do not want to "restrict" any part of the site - instead I want a user to
login (at their convenience) and then extend the "menu" options based on
their group membership. If a user is not logged in - no problem, they just
won't be able to view the advanced options - they'll still be able to surf
the site (I want to maintain my user list in an external database as well).

What is the best tool in Zope to accomplish this? After searching the site,
I find there are several products - ACL Users, GUF, and LoginManager. Is GUF
deprecated (The intro tends to give me this feeling)? Is LoginManager the
way to go?

It also appears GUF is more tailored toward restrictive authentication (I've
already perused the "Using GUF with an SQL Database" how-to). I want a user
to login (via HTML form/cookie) whenever they like, and get presented with
additional menu options (based on their AUTHENICATED/GROUP status). Not have
them try to access a "restricted" page (or type "manage") and get a basic
authentication login box to get in.

As far as LoginManager itself is concerned, I assume it requires ZPatterns.
However, the Zpatterns install instructions are *very sparse.*  How do I get
the thing set up? Here's verbatim from the ZPatterns docs:

-----
After unpacking the ZPatterns product, you will need to build this [c]
>extension using the included Setup file in the ZPatterns directory.
-----

How do I use the "Setup" file?? With the command "python Setup"? It doesn't
say *how* to use it.

-----
Please follow the standard procedures for building a Python module on your
platform. (On Unix-ish systems, this usually consists of copying a
Makefile.pre.in to the directory, then doing a make -f Makefile.pre.in boot
>followed by make.
-----

What are these standard procedures?? I built Python itself with
"configure|Make|Make install". Where do I get this "Makefile.pre.in" file in
the first place, from my Python src/build directory?? Correct me if I'm
wrong, but there's usually some kind of script file to run that get's things
going, or a "configure" script. I find none of this in the
lib/python/Products/ZPatterns directory after I untarred it.

So, I'm basically stumped. It doesn't appear GUF will do what I need, and I
have failed on multiple attempts to get Loginmanager/ZPatterns installed. If
someone could point me in the right direction on this I sure would
appreciate it.

Thanks much,
-Darin Lee