[pmwiki-users] neverending registration question

[Crisses]

On Jun 7, 2007, at 8:57 PM, Sandy wrote:

> Marguerite Floyd wrote:
>> WHERE can I find the recipe or option that displays a registration
>> form?  You've been great about showing me how to set passwords and
>> display login boxes, but WHERE is the page I can link to that  
>> requires
>> the user to put in their name???  It's not much use to display a box
>> asking for a password when there's no display anywhere asking for a
>> user name to begin with.
>>
>> When you register with sites there's a page where you have to put in
>> your name, userid, chosen password, etc.  Where in pmwiki.org can I
>> find this page OR if there is no page like that, where's a recipe or
>> code to connect up a designed page with the pmwiki system?
>>
>> Thanks!
>
> The Crisses have just written a how-to for the basic AuthUser,  
> where the
> database is maintained by the wiki in Site.AuthUser .
> http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/QuickStartForAuthUser
> Yes, the procedure seems rather round-about, having to set temporary
> access to set the permanent access, but that's the way it works at the
> moment.

Following up, due to someone mentioning my name :)

A wiki was originally an open-edit system before it became abused.   
Over time, more security became required (whether detecting spam in  
posts, or requiring user authorization/authentication).  As a hold- 
over from the true spirit of "the wiki" the out-of-the-box pmwiki  
package comes open-edit with the recommendation to turn on the spam  
detection software ("Blocklist") and change the admin password.

The built-in AuthUser does not allow users to self-register, recover  
passwords, or do email authentication.  Ben Wilson & I have worked on  
AuthUserDBase which combines those features with using a MySQL  
database to manage user authentication. It works with the built in  
AuthUser system, but gives users a registration form, sends them an  
email to verify their account, allows them to update their email or  
passwords, and allows the request to change a lost password.  This is  
much more content-management-system-like than wiki-like.

Last I used it, it worked, but that's a while ago (January), and the  
recipe may require updating.  I will probably be picking it up again  
soon and making sure it works -- perhaps when 2.2.0 is finalized,  
since that's a sensible time to check a recipe.  Note that using the  
recipe requires first using http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/ 
DatabaseStandard (prerequisite) then http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/ 
Cookbook/AuthUserDbase
There ARE other options.  I haven't used any of them, so I don't know  
what to recommend.  I've either left wikis open-edit (I have at least  
2 of those), used one admin password for the whole site because only  
one person is using them (most are like this), used AuthUser for  
sites with a limited number of users, or AuthUserDBase for large  
multi-user self-registration websites (similepedia.com).  You can try  
it out at http://similepedia.com/index.php/Main/AccountInfo --  
registration is free and easy :)  You can change your information,  
request a password change, etc.  If you want to thank the site owner,  
open up Moby Dick and add the first simile you come across to his  
database.  He'll be thrilled to get a contribution :)

Crisses