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My boss has set me the challenge of authorizing access to a Wordpress site using our corporate directory. We have ADFS and I know about ADFS. I don't know about Wordpress. So, I came here to ask the experts. I asked this question:

https://serverfault.com/questions/509889/can-i-use-adfs-with-wordpress?noredirect=1#comment574965_509889

and it got closed as not constructive . How should I have approached the problem to avoid it being closed?

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    One minor point, those were 5 normal users who closed your question, no moderator was involved.
    – Chris S
    May 24, 2013 at 12:48
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    Also, you got two comments with constructive information that should help you on your way.
    – Jenny D
    May 24, 2013 at 12:52

3 Answers 3

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Though nobody suggested it (probably because a lot of regulars might not know it exists) we also have a dedicated Wordpress site on the Stack Exchange network.

The type of question you're asking ("Is there a way to make Wordpress do X?") is probably better suited to that site.
After following their advice if it doesn't work and you've got a bunch of errors in your AD server's event log Server Fault is the place to bring the follow-up ("I've got Wordpress talking to AD using X, but I'm getting error Y -- How can I make AD play nice?")

(This is "Good Fragmentation" -- Wordpress experts can point you at the most likely plugins to work for you, and Windows/AD experts can help you if they don't :-)

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  • I couldn't remember if the wp site was still around... May 24, 2013 at 22:05
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    @MarkHenderson Not only has it survived, it apparently graduated at some point. This is what we get for missing staff meetings...
    – voretaq7
    May 24, 2013 at 22:43
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I can't speak on behalf of the people who closed it; but:

  1. It seems very simple to answer; just search the Wordpress plugins database

  2. It's related to running a website, not administering servers etc, so it probably belongs on webmasters.stackexchange.com

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  • +1 If there's a problem configuring the AD Plugin, that would be on-topic here. But asking if something exists that fulfills needs is essentially a Shopping Question. And it should be assumed that any major piece of Internet software can be made to work with AD/LDAP, even if you have to use the pointy end.
    – Chris S
    May 24, 2013 at 12:51
  • @Mark. I have. There's no mention of ADFS or Active Directory Federation Services. May 24, 2013 at 12:55
  • However, there is mention of SAML 2, which I didn't think of last time. Thanks. Now I've got a thread on which to pull. May 24, 2013 at 12:59
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Note that the question didn't get closed off topic.

It got closed as not constructive because there is a certain expectation that people who ask questions do a little research first. Really short questions that are broad and don't have much in the way of necessary detail about the context tend to get closed like this, as do questions that look like they can be answered by a single google query. Questions asking for a series of steps or a guide also tend to meet this fate.

In the end, a model answer tends to include some theory or technological background related to why you are having trouble or are confused (such as an explanation of an option's meaning, a protocol, or some odd syntax), some suggestions for things you might look at or a pointer to the root cause, and possibly a link for reference.

What model answers typically don't include are step by step guides or scripts to accomplish your exact task in your environment with environment-specific details (this often isn't general enough to be useful to someone coming upon the question later), lists of recommended devices or software, or like things.

Questions that can't be answered with a model answer as I've vaguely and nonexclusively defined above will tend to get closed like this.

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