[[!tag type/auth]]
This plugin allows HTTP basic authentication to be used to log into the
-wiki.
+wiki. In this mode, the web browser authenticates the user by some means,
+and sets the `REMOTE_USER CGI` environment variable. This plugin trusts
+that if that variable is set, the user is authenticated.
## fully authenticated wiki
## separate cgiauthurl
To use httpauth for a wiki where the content is public, and where
-the `ikiwiki.cgi` needs to be usable without authentication (for searching
-and so on), you can configure a separate url that is used for
-authentication, via the `cgiauthurl` option in the setup file. This
-url will then be redirected to whenever authentication is needed.
+the `ikiwiki.cgi` needs to be usable without authentication (for searching,
+or logging in using other methods, and so on), you can configure a separate
+url that is used for authentication, via the `cgiauthurl` option in the setup
+file. This url will then be redirected to when a user chooses to log in using
+httpauth.
A typical setup is to make an `auth` subdirectory, and symlink `ikiwiki.cgi`
into it. Then configure the web server to require authentication only for
access to the `auth` subdirectory. Then `cgiauthurl` is pointed at this
symlink.
+
+## using only httpauth for some pages
+
+If you want to only use httpauth for editing some pages, while allowing
+other authentication methods to be used for other pages, you can
+configure `httpauth_pagespec` in the setup file. This makes Edit
+links on pages that match the [[ikiwiki/PageSpec]] automatically use
+the `cgiauthurl`, and prevents matching pages from being edited by
+users authentication via other methods.