Question

What is the best way to login different users from the same machine? this is helpful in an open office or library environment where multiple people use the same machine. It is also helpful when the web master is trying to test TWiki from multiple login accounts/IDs.

From my machine, my TWiki is always authenticated to MatthewSimpson. How can this be changed to another user name?

• TWiki version: The most recent one
• Web server: Apache
• Server OS: FreeBSD

-- MatthewSimpson - 26 Aug 2001

Answer

Typically, you just need to close all browser windows, then the TWiki site will re-authenticate your browser next time you use it. This is how most browsers work with HTTP authentication.

-- RichardDonkin - 27 Aug 2001

You might also want to check on SessionPlugin.

-- EdgarBrown - 27 Aug 2001

Follow up

Closing the browser doesn't work. Thank you for the insight. I didn't know it was supposed to work that way. For some reason my TWiki installation remembers me each and every time I return. I don't have to log back in. Any ideas why?

Also, because of the web hosting environment I'm using, I do not have access to running a cron. So the SessionPlugin is not an option. Thank you for the suggestion, though. -- MatthewSimpson - 03 Sep 2001

Not another "meaningless" maintenance change. I added my few words in UsabilityIdeas to a recent post on this logout/login again question. Recently, using TWiki in an office setting with much machine-hopping and wanting to preserve proper logins - to TRACK everyone. I also now started using an alias - TWikiAdmin - to do maintenance things here on TWiki.org that mark trivially modified pages as updated by...me - this really requires an easy way to switch logins - I've already crossed the line on using the right username for the right thing. So this has become quite a BIG problem in two areas.

-- MikeMannix - 31 Dec 2001

Matthew, I just tried closing the browser using IE6.0 on Windows 2000 and it worked fine, forcing me to log in again on Edit. Please post details of your environment, and whether you have an unusual authentication setup.

-- RichardDonkin - 02 Jan 2002

TWiki might be remembering who you are if you have $doRememberRemoteUser set to "1" in the TWiki.cfg file. It could be that TWiki is identifying a user with a particular IP address. See TWikiUserAuthentication for more info.

-- MikeBarton - 02 Jan 2002

TWiki remembers you also after a browser restart if you view a topic in case the $doRememberRemoteUser flag is enabled. This is the case here at TWiki.org.

However, once you hit Edit it will ask for authentication again. This is because the browser askes for the user name / password just once, remembers them, and resubmits them without user interaction each time authentication is required (this is the spec of basic authentication.)

-- PeterThoeny - 06 Jan 2002

I have been having similar issues with a brand new install here. Even though I shut down all the browser windows (which isn't an acceptable solution) it still saw me as guest when I went back to it. Client is WinXP with IE 6. Server is OpenLinux 3.1 w/Apache. Surely there must be a way to put up an initial login screen or force a login anytime someone does an edit.

-- PhilWright - 12 Jan 2002

When I am using the KDE Browser kfm, it never asks me for authentication. Instead, when I edit, it directly gives me the page that starts:

TWiki . TWiki . TWikiRegistration (oops)

Attention

Either you need to register or the authentication failed

To edit topics on this TWiki collaborative web, you must be registered as a user.

If you expected to be logged in at this point: ...

At this point it allows me to register as a new user, but I can't get to a login window (or can I register as an old user? Never thought of trying that). I would love to be able to request a login explicitly. There have been times on other browsers that it thinks I am TWikiGuest, and I want to log in with my own name, and I am unable to.

-- HendrikBoom - 18 Jan 2002

See HowToMakeATWikiLogoutPage if you want to make a logout page.

-- BoudRoukema - 12 Jan 2004