Enable Google / GitHub sign-in

Your forum can let members sign in with Google or GitHub in addition to email-and-password. This guide is for administrators and self-hosters who configure the providers.

Who configures this

Social sign-in is turned on with configuration values (client IDs and secrets from Google/GitHub). On a managed forum, ask InfoEmu support to enable it for your instance. On a Self-Hosted forum you set the values yourself — see Configuration.

Register your OAuth apps

At each provider you want to offer, create an OAuth application and note its client ID and client secret:

• Google — create OAuth credentials in the Google Cloud console.
• GitHub — create an OAuth app in your GitHub developer settings. (InfoEmu reads the user’s verified email, including private GitHub emails.)

Set each app’s authorized redirect URL to your forum’s OAuth callback for that provider, over HTTPS.

Turn it on

Enable OAuth and provide the client ID/secret for each provider you registered. Once enabled, a Sign in with Google/GitHub option appears on the login page.

How matching works

Social sign-in matches accounts by email address:

1. A member clicks Sign in with Google/GitHub and authorises at the provider.
2. If a forum account already exists with that verified email, the member is logged into it.
3. If not, they’re taken to the registration form with their email pre-filled and locked. Because the provider already verified the email, a password is generated for them and the email-confirmation step is skipped.

No persistent provider link

Accounts are matched by email only; there is no stored link between a forum account and a specific provider identity. A member whose provider email changes should update their forum email to match. Choose the email you use with the provider carefully.