diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/CHANGES.md | 8 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/INSTALL.md | 37 |
2 files changed, 27 insertions, 18 deletions
diff --git a/doc/CHANGES.md b/doc/CHANGES.md index 968c34eff..4796b726f 100644 --- a/doc/CHANGES.md +++ b/doc/CHANGES.md @@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ less likely, when using Varnish, that users will be presented with stale content. Fixes [issue #436](https://github.com/sebbacon/alaveteli/issues/436) - ## Upgrade notes * Existing installations will need to install the Bundler gem. See @@ -36,6 +35,13 @@ in `ugly` format at `config/purge-varnish-debian.ugly` to ensure the purge queue is emptied regularly. +* Administrators are now assumed to log in using standard user accounts + with superuser privileges (see 'Administrator Privileges' in + `INSTALL.md`). The old-style admin account (using credentials from + `general.yml`) is now known as the "emergency user". Deployments + that previously bypassed admin authentication should set the new + `SKIP_ADMIN_AUTH` config variable to `true`. + # Version 0.5.1 ## Highlighted features diff --git a/doc/INSTALL.md b/doc/INSTALL.md index 1e2f3d134..cc72bf6b8 100644 --- a/doc/INSTALL.md +++ b/doc/INSTALL.md @@ -282,23 +282,26 @@ the site in action. # Administrator privileges -By default, anyone can access the administrator pages without authentication. -They are under the URL `/admin`. - -At mySociety (originators of the Alaveteli software), they use a -separate layer of HTTP basic authentication, proxied over HTTPS, to -check who is allowed to use the administrator pages. You might like to -do something similar. - -Alternatively, update the code so that: - -* By default, admin pages use normal site authentication (checking user admin -level 'super'). -* Create an option in `config/general` which lets us override that -behaviour. - -And send us the patch! - +The administrative interface is at the URL `/admin`. + +Only users with the `super` admin level can access the admin +interface. Users create their own accounts in the usual way, and then +administrators can give them `super` privileges. + +There is an emergency user account which can be accessed via +`/admin?emergency=1`, using the credentials `ADMIN_USERNAME` and +`ADMIN_PASSWORD`, which are set in `general.yml`. To bootstrap the +first `super` level accounts, you will need to log in as the emergency +user. + +Users with the superuser role also have extra privileges in the +website frontend, such as being able to categorise any request, being +able to view items that have been hidden from the search, and being +presented with "admin" links next to individual requests and comments +in the front end. + +It is possible completely to override the administrator authentication +by setting `SKIP_ADMIN_AUTH` to `true` in `general.yml`. # Cron jobs |