Knowledgebase
How to enable and disable email authentication in MediaWiki
In MediaWiki there's an option for enabling and disabling email authentication for the email addresses of registered users. If the option is enabled, after a user registers or when a registered user changes their email address, they have to authenticate it in order to be able to use the email function and email options on the site. The user will receive on the address they provided an email message with a link; they have to click on the link to authenticate the address. If they don't authenticate the email address, they will be able to log into the account and use it, but they won't be able to use the email options and send emails using the email function on the site. In case the option is disabled, users will be allowed to use the email function and option without confirming the email address. Note that providing and email address during account creation is optional.
This option can be initially configured while installing MediaWiki. During the installation if you choose to configure some additional options, you'll be able to configure settings related to email. The checkbox for the option Enable email authentication is marked by default, which means that if you don't make any changes to the default configuration during the installation, email authentication should be enabled.
After the application is installed you can enable and disable email authentication by modifying a line in the LocalSettings.php file of your MediaWiki. In the file you have to find the option $wgEmailAuthentication. If authentication is enabled it will be set to true like this:
$wgEmailAuthentication = true;
In case you want to disable authentication simply replace true with false and save the change.
The LocalSettings.php file is located in the root MediaWiki folder on your MediaWiki hosting account. If, for example, the application is installed directly in the public_html directory on the account, then the path to it will be public_html/LocalSettings.php. One way for HostKnox customers to edit files directly on the account is from the Files section of the Pixie control panel. Another way is to download the file on your local computer with an FTP client, then edit it with a text editor (e.g. Notepad), and upload it back overwriting the old file. Files can also be edited on the account via SSH.
It's also possible to require users to provide an email address during registration; this will also mean that they have to authenticate the address before being able to edit pages, and it will also disable editing of pages by anonymous users. For more information check out the article on how to require users to confirm their email address before being able to edit pages in MediaWiki.
If you want to disable the email function completely for the whole site or just the form for sending emails from the site to other users, check out for more information the article on how to disable and enable the email function in MediaWiki.
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