Questions about using webusers for a custom application

Hi,

I’m building a store where users can log in and keep lots of custom preferences (favorites, comments, lists, etc.) I’m doing all of the database/backed logic outside of modx and just plugging into it with snippets. All of the product management will also be done using custom data/logic (meaning I’m not trying to force my store/products into the modx document model as I’ve seen some of the modx e-commerce solutions do.) The question comes up is where should I handle the users - with MODx webusers or with my code.

I don’t think I’ll be using much document group restrictions - most of the customizations will happen in my code. I just need something for handling the user registration, lost password, login, etc. Nothing too complicated. But there are some places where I would use the document permissions for the webusers if I had them.

I was wondering if there a practical limit to how many webusers modx can handle? I remember reading there is a limit on the number of documents (which is not a problem for me how I’m doing the site). Is there any similar limitation, practical or technical, on the number of users? Any ideas how many users some of the bigger modx user-sites have?

Are there any other issues I should consider when choosing an approach. Has anyone used modx but opted to develop your own user management system? If so, what were some of the factors?

There’s no real limitation to the number of web users; I’ve seen MODx deployments with thousands of web users.

But it’s perfectly viable to use an external user system, if you don’t want to use the internal security systems. You can always build your own security checks and simply use $modx->sendUnauthorizedPage() in a snippet to protect pages from unwanted visitors. I’ve never chosen to build a custom user system outside of MODx for applications I’m building for MODx, but I have had to incorporate existing user systems like this when converting sites to MODx, and it works like a charm.