cakePHP authentication problems - php

Question

I am unable to wrap my head around how the Auth component works in cakePHP. I am using 2.1
My login works perfectly, and from my understanding I can set the default component in the appController, which I did as listed below.
// App controller:
public $components = array(
'Session',
'Auth' => array(
'loginAction' => array(
'controller' => 'users',
'action' => 'login',
),
'authError' => "Your username and password is incorrect, please try again.",
'authenticate' => array(
'Form' => array(
'scope' => array('User.user_status_id' => 1)
)
),
'redirect' => array("controller" => "users", "action" => "profile"),
'loginRedirect' => array("controller" => "users", "action" => "profile")
)
);
public function beforeFilter() {
$this->Auth->allow("home");
if($this->Auth->loggedIn() == true) {
$this->set("user_name",$this->Auth->user("first_name")." ".$this->Auth->user("last_name"));
$this->set("loggedIn",true);
if($this->Auth->user("user_type_id") == 5) {
$this->set("navigation","navigation_admin");
} else {
$this->set("navigation","navigation_loggedin");
}
} else {
$this->set("loggedIn",false);
$this->set("navigation","navigation_notloggedin");
}
}
home is located /app/view/home.ctp, however, I cannot access the page without being logged in. Next I have 2 different user levels, normal and administrator. I want to limit certain actions in controllers based if you're an admin or not.
In my UserController I have example:
public function beforeFilter() {
parent::beforeFilter();
$this->Auth->allow("login");
if($this->Auth->user("user_type_id") != 5) {
$this->Auth->allow("login","profile");
}
}
But irrespective of the user type, everyone can view the actions.
In my pages controller I also have the following:
public function beforeFilter() {
parent::beforeFilter();
$this->Auth->allow("*");
}
But I have to be logged in to view any pages.
I am convinced I am doing something wrong, but I cannot wrap my head around what, any help?

Answer 1

First, home is not an action on the controller, so $this->Auth->allow("home"); wouldn't have an effect. $this->Auth->allow("display"); would but would allow all pages to be seen (not sure if that's intended).
Secondly, you are using $this->Auth->allow("*"); after you call the parent's beforeFilter, which means that AppController::beforeFilter() would treat it as if the user wasn't logged in, since it doesn't know what you've allowed after the fact.