Provider – Google

Important notice

Google Apps created for Social Login now need to be verified by Google. Verification is required if your app is marked as Public. Before your consent screen and application are verified by Google, you can still test your application with some limitations, once the limitation is exceeded, users will receive a notification from Google, that the App is not verified and probably isn’t trustworthy.
So before proceeding, please have a look at the Unverified apps documentation which indicates how unverified apps may behave. If you would like to know more information about the verification it self, please check the OAuth Application Verification FAQ of Google.

Table of contents

• How to enable the provider
• Settings
• Sync data
• Google Sign-In Branding Guidelines compatibility
• Common error messages
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to enable Google login in WordPress

1. App creation

To be able to log in via Google you must create a Google app first.

1. Navigate to https://console.developers.google.com/apis/
2. Log in with your Google credentials if you are not logged in.
3. If you don’t have a project yet, you’ll need to create one. You can do this by clicking on the blue “Create Project” text on the right side! ( If you already have a project, then in the top bar click on the name of your project instead, which will bring up a modal and click “New Project”. )
4. Name your project and then click on the “Create” button again!
5. Once you have a project, you’ll end up in the dashboard. ( If earlier you have already had a Project, then make sure you select the created project in the top bar! )
6. Click the “OAuth consent screen” button on the left hand side.
7. Choose a User Type according to your needs and press “Create”. If you want to enable the social login with Google for any users with a Google account, then pick the “External” option!
   Note: We don’t use sensitive or restricted scopes either. But if you will use this App for other purposes too, then you may need to go through an Independent security review!
8. Enter a name for your App to the “App name” field, which will appear as the name of the app asking for consent.
9. For the “User support email” field, select an email address that users can use to contact you with questions about their consent.
10. Fill the “Application home page” field with the URL of your homepage.
11. Enter your privacy policy and terms of service links into the “Application privacy policy link” and “Application terms of service link” fields.
12. Under the “Authorized domains” section press the “Add Domain” button and enter your domain name, without subdomains! E.g.: example.com
13. At the “Developer contact information” section, enter an email address that Google can use to notify you about any changes to your project.
14. Press “Save and Continue” then press it again on the “Scopes”, “Test users” pages, too!
15. On the left side, click on the “Credentials” menu point, then click the “+ Create Credentials” button in the top bar.
16. Choose the “OAuth client ID” option.
17. Select the “Web application” under Application type.
18. Enter a “Name” for your OAuth client ID.
19. Under the “Authorised redirect URIs” section click “Add URI” and add the URL that Nextend Social Login suggests at the backend!
20. Click on the “Create” button
21. A modal should pop up with your credentials. If that doesn’t happen, go to the Credentials in the left hand menu and select your app by clicking on its name and you’ll be able to copy-paste the “Client ID” and “Client Secret” from there.
22. Currently your App is in Testing mode, so only limited number of people can use it. To allow this App for any user with a Google Account, click on the “OAuth consent screen” option on the left side, then click the “PUBLISH APP” button under the “Publishing status” section, and press the “Confirm” button.

2. App setup

Once your Google app is ready you’ll need to copy and paste the Client ID and Client Secret to the Google provider’s Settings tab. You can find the information at your Google app’s Settings which you can reach from the left sidebar.

3. Verification

Once your Client ID and Client Secret has been added you need to verify the setup first. This verification helps you identify possible problems with the app.

Settings

Client ID

The Client ID of your Google app. You can find it at left menu: Credentials → select your App.

Client Secret

The Client Secret of your Google app. You can find it at left menu: Credentials → select your App.

Select account on each login

When enabled, Google will display the account select prompt each time the user logs in with the Google provider.

Username prefix on Register

Whenever a new user registers with their Google account they can get a custom prefix so you can easily identify them.

Fallback username prefix on register

Whenever a new user registers with their Google account and we can not generate a valid username from the first name or last name, a random username will be generated. With this option they can get a custom prefix so you can easily identify them.

Terms and conditions

This option can only be seen, if Terms and conditions is set to Show in Global Settings → Privacy tab. Here you can set custom Terms and Conditions for users who register with Google. For more information please read our GDPR documentation.

Sync data

By default Nextend Social Login stores the first name, last name, email, avatar url and access token if it is possible, however some additional information can also be retrieved and stored.
When an option is checked, that field will be stored in a meta key with the specified name.

Sync fields

It determines when the synchronization shall happen.

• Register: whenever a new user registers with a provider, their data will be retrieved and stored.
• Login: whenever user logs in with a provider, their data will be retrieved and stored.
• Link: whenever user links and existing WordPress account with a provider, their data will be retrieved and stored.

Locale

Stores the user’s locale. Returns string.

Genders*

Stores the user’s genders. Returns string.

Biographies*

Stores the user’s introduction. Information is set at Google – About Me page. Returns string.

Birthdays*

Stores the user’s birthday. Returns string in a format: YYYY-MM-DD.

Occupations*

Stores the user’s occupation. Information is set at Google – About Me page. Returns string.

Organizations*

Stores the user’s organization information from Google – About Me( Stored values: name, title, type, start date, end date, is it current). Returns array.

Locations*

Stores the place where the user lives or where used to live in the past. Information is set at Google – About Me page. Returns array.

Age ranges*

Stores the user’s age range. Returns string.

Addresses*

Stores the addresses of the user. Information is set at Google – About Me page. Returns array.

Phone Numbers*

Stores the user’s phone numbers. Information is set at Google – About Me page. Returns array.

Google Sign-In Branding Guidelines compatibility

According to the Google Sign-In Branding Guidelines, the button need to comply with some requirements. At the buttons tab of the Google provider, there are predefined skins (light and dark), which comply with those requirements.

Common error messages returned by Google during verification

redirect_uri_mismatch

The problem is that the entered Authorized redirect URIs field is not correct for your app. Check the 19th step of the App setup to fix the problem.

invalid_client

The entered Client ID is not correct. Maybe the app with the entered ID was deleted. Go to the Google provider → Settings and make sure that an existing App’s Client ID and Client Secret was entered.

Request is missing required authentication credential

The entered Client ID or Client Secret is not correct, it is probably contain some extra white-space characters. Make sure you copied the Client ID and the Client Secret in the appropriate format.

Error 403: org_internal

The “User Type” in your App was set to “Internal”. The problem is that, the internal Apps can only be used be the members of the organization. If the goal is to make the App being usable by everybody, the “External” User Type must be selected, as we suggested in the 7th step of the Getting Started Section.

Other 403 and 404 errors

When your other providers work properly, but your Google provider gives you 403 or 404 error, your server or firewall will most likely have a limitation that prevents accessing to pages with HTTP/HTTPS links in them. For more information please visit our Google 403 and 404 errors documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why am I not logged in automatically after the version 3.0.19?

For a better user experience we modified our Google authentication related codes. So once the user was already logged in with the Google provider and logged out, then the person will have the opportunity to chose a different Google account.
It was a common problem that users logged in with a Google account other then the one they wanted, so they logged out from the site. But from this point, the login happened automatically with the selected account.
Fortunately Google offers an account selector scope, so starting from Nextend Social Login 3.0.19, the account selection box will be offered instead of the autologin. In this way users will be able to choose the account they would like to login with.