When you log in you may see a Google Authentication button. I’ve tested this but it won’t work for anyone else just yet. After testing I have to submit the project for verification which Google say can take 4-6 weeks!
When verified, if your Discourse account uses the same email address as your Google account then you’ll be able to log in just by clicking the button and selecting your Google account (if you have more than one). If you don’t currently use a Google account to access Discourse then you can add a secondary Google email in your profile settings which can be used for logging-in.
If anyone really wants to try this out before verification is complete I can add test users (by Google email account) so let me know if you’d like to test it.
There are other login methods that can be set up - Facebook, Discord, Github and Twitter (aka X) but I’m not planning on adding any of those just yet, and given the problems that have been caused by Twitter/X I don’t propose adding that at all.
This functionality is now live. This login mechanism is particularly useful for people who always stay logged into their Google account in the browser. It also means one less email address/password combination to remember because (if you want) you no longer need to use your forum account password.
This is how it works…
Authenticate yourself (log in) to your browser with an email address that’s registered in the Google ‘cloud’ and that you use in this Discourse forum. This isn’t absolutely necessary at this stage, but you’ll need to log into Google in step 3 if you’re not logged in here.
When you click on the Discourse “Log In” button you’ll see the usual login pop-up has a new button ‘Sign in with Google’. Click this button.
You will the see another popup window asking which address/account you want to use. Select the email address that corresponds with the email address you use in Discourse. If you’re not logged into the Google account you’ll be presented with login options to allow you to do that at this stage.
Click the account you want to use (or login) and you’ll be logged into Discourse.
If the email address you’ve registered in Discourse isn’t associated with a Google account but you have another email address that is, just add the other address as an alternate address in Discourse. Go to Account Preferences and use the ‘+ Add alternate email’ button to register the other address. You’ll need to confirm that the address is yours by clicking a button in the confirmation email you’ll receive. Once the alternate address is registered you can use the process above to log in using Google. Both email addresses are active for your Discourse account, so you can log in (with a password) using either address in future.