Help:Managing user rights
User rights are specific access and ability permissions that can be assigned to customizable groups, which can then be assigned to (or removed from) users through the Special:Userrights interface. For example, the default bureaucrat group enables the use of the User rights interface.
This feature was introduced in MediaWiki 1.5; see setting user rights in MediaWiki on the Meta-wiki for earlier methods.
Managing groups
A default MediaWiki installation assigns certain rights to default groups (see below). You can change the default rights by declaring the $wgGroupPermissions array in LocalSettings.php with the syntax "$wgGroupPermissions[' group '][' right '] = boolean;". To change permissions for all groups, use "*" as the group. For example, to disable editing for all users, add "$wgGroupPermissions['*']['edit'] = false;".
In addition to the default groups, you can arbitrarily create new groups using the same array. For example:
$wgGroupPermissions['ninja']['bot'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['ninja']['block'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['ninja']['delete'] = true;
Rights and groups
The following user rights are available:
| Right | Description |
|---|---|
| Reading | |
| read | allows viewing pages not defined in $wgWhitelistRead. |
| Editing | |
| edit | allows editing unprotected pages. |
| createpage | allows the creation of new pages (requires the edit right). |
| createtalk | allows the creation of new talk pages (requires the edit right). |
| move | allows renaming page titles. |
| createaccount | allows the creation of new user accounts. |
| upload | allows the creation of new images and files. |
| reupload | allows overwriting existing images and files. |
| reupload-shared | allows replacing images and files from a shared repository (if one is set up) with local files. |
| upload_by_url | allows uploading by entering the URL of an external image. |
| Management | |
| delete | allows the deletion of edits and pages. |
| undelete | allows viewing and restoring deleted edits and pages. |
| deletedhistory | allows viewing deleted revisions, but not restoring. |
| protect | allows locking a page to prevent edits, and editing locked pages. |
| block | allows the blocking of IP addresses, CIDR ranges, and registered users. Block options include preventing editing and registering new accounts, and autoblocking other users on the same IP address. |
| blockemail | allows preventing use of the Special:Emailuser interface when blocking. |
| userrights | allows the use of the user rights interface, which allows the assignment or removal of groups to any user. |
| rollback | allows one-click reversion of edits. |
| patrol | allows marking edits as legitimate ($wgUseRCPatrol must be true). |
| editinterface | allows editing the MediaWiki namespace, which contains interface messages. |
| Administration | |
| siteadmin | allows locking and unlocking the database (which blocks all interactions with the web site except viewing). |
| import | allows user to import pages from another wiki. |
| importupload | allows user to import pages from XML files. |
| trackback | allows removal of trackbacks (if $wgUseTrackbacks is true). |
| unwatchedpages | allows access to Special:Unwatchedpages, which lists pages that no user has watchlisted. |
| Technical | |
| bot | hides edits from recent changes lists and watchlists by default (can optionally be viewed). |
| purge | allows purging a page without a confirmation step (URL parameter "&action=purge").
|
| minoredit | allows marking an edit as 'minor'. |
| nominornewtalk | blocks new message notification when making minor edits to user talk pages (requires minor edit right). |
| ipblock-exempt | makes user immune to blocks applied to his IP address. |
| proxyunbannable | makes user immune to the open proxy blocker, which is disabled by default ($wgBlockOpenProxies). |
| autopatrol | automatically marks all edits by the user as patrolled ($wgUseRCPatrol must be true). |
The following groups are available:
| Group | Description |
|---|---|
| * | all users (including anonymous). |
| user | registered accounts. |
| autoconfirmed | registered accounts at least as old as $wgAutoConfirmAge and having at least as many edits as $wgAutoConfirmCount. |
| emailconfirmed | registered accounts with confirmed email addresses. |
| bot | accounts with the bot right (intended for automated scripts). |
| sysop | users who by default can delete and restore pages, block and unblock users, et cetera. |
| bureaucrat | users who by default can change other users' rights. |
Default rights
The default rights are defined in DefaultSettings.php. MediaWiki 1.11alpha defines the following:
/** * Permission keys given to users in each group. * All users are implicitly in the '*' group including anonymous visitors; * logged-in users are all implicitly in the 'user' group. These will be * combined with the permissions of all groups that a given user is listed * in in the user_groups table. * * Functionality to make pages inaccessible has not been extensively tested * for security. Use at your own risk! * * This replaces wgWhitelistAccount and wgWhitelistEdit */ $wgGroupPermissions = array(); // Implicit group for all visitors $wgGroupPermissions['*' ]['createaccount'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['*' ]['read'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['*' ]['edit'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['*' ]['createpage'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['*' ]['createtalk'] = true; // Implicit group for all logged-in accounts $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['move'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['read'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['edit'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['createpage'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['createtalk'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['upload'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['reupload'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['reupload-shared'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['minoredit'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['user' ]['purge'] = true; // can use ?action=purge without clicking "ok" // Implicit group for accounts that pass $wgAutoConfirmAge $wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autoconfirmed'] = true; // Implicit group for accounts with confirmed email addresses // This has little use when email address confirmation is off $wgGroupPermissions['emailconfirmed']['emailconfirmed'] = true; // Users with bot privilege can have their edits hidden // from various log pages by default $wgGroupPermissions['bot' ]['bot'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['bot' ]['autoconfirmed'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['bot' ]['nominornewtalk'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['bot' ]['autopatrol'] = true; // Most extra permission abilities go to this group $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['block'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['createaccount'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['delete'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deletedhistory'] = true; // can view deleted history entries, but not see or restore the text $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['editinterface'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['import'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['importupload'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['move'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['patrol'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['autopatrol'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['protect'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['proxyunbannable'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['rollback'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['trackback'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['upload'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['reupload'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['reupload-shared'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['unwatchedpages'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['autoconfirmed'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['upload_by_url'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['ipblock-exempt'] = true; $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['blockemail'] = true; // Permission to change users' group assignments $wgGroupPermissions['bureaucrat']['userrights'] = true; // Experimental permissions, not ready for production use //$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deleterevision'] = true; //$wgGroupPermissions['bureaucrat']['hiderevision'] = true; /** * The developer group is deprecated, but can be activated if need be * to use the 'lockdb' and 'unlockdb' special pages. Those require * that a lock file be defined and creatable/removable by the web * server. */ # $wgGroupPermissions['developer']['siteadmin'] = true;
Examples
Anonymous users cannot view pages
This example will disable viewing of all pages not listed in $wgWhitelistRead, then re-enable for registered users only.
$wgGroupPermissions['*']['read'] = false; $wgGroupPermissions['user']['read'] = true;