Enabling or Disabling New User Registrations Mod     2026/08/18
by Ami Sapphire

Last Updated: 2026/09/07

2026

[0907]
Better setreg behavior - Page works in Page Links from the Admin Panel as
  intended
Formatting changes


This mod adds a feature that can enable or disable new user registrations
through user/register.php. This can also be used to temporarily stop spam
registrations through user/register.php as a nuclear option.

This version is meant to be patched for eFiction 3.5.6 to future 3.5.9. This
will also work with the original eFiction 3.5.3, but one entry will need some
modification (since eFicton 3.5.3 and earlier use divs for formatting and 3.5.5
and later use tables for formatting) and a few lines are in different line
positions in some files.



admin/settings.php


Line 240

Insert into -> Add this line:

		$setreg = $_POST['newsetreg'] == 1 ? 1 : 0;


Line 246

Replace this line:

		$result = dbquery("UPDATE ".$settingsprefix."fanfiction_settings SET tinyMCE = '$tinyMCE', favorites = '$favorites', multiplecats = '$multiplecats', allowed_tags = '$allowed_tags', newscomments = '$newscomments', logging = '$logging', maintenance = '$maintenance', debug = '$debug', captcha = '$captcha' WHERE sitekey ='".SITEKEY."'");

with this:

		$result = dbquery("UPDATE ".$settingsprefix."fanfiction_settings SET tinyMCE = '$tinyMCE', favorites = '$favorites', multiplecats = '$multiplecats', setreg = '$setreg', allowed_tags = '$allowed_tags', newscomments = '$newscomments', logging = '$logging', maintenance = '$maintenance', debug = '$debug', captcha = '$captcha' WHERE sitekey ='".SITEKEY."'");


Around Line 444 [data has since shifted]
Note: format is different pre-eFiction 3.5.5

Insert into -> Add this segment:

			<tr>
				<td><label for='newsetreg'>"._SETREG.": </label></td><td><select name='newsetreg'>
				<option value='1'".($setreg == "1" ? "selected" : "").">"._YES."</option>
				<option value='0'".($setreg == "0" ? "selected" : "").">"._NO."</option>
				</select> <a href='#' class='pophelp'>[?]<span>"._HELP_SETREG."</span></a></td>
			</tr>

--

docs/settingstable.sql [optional]


Line 31

Insert into -> Add this line:

`setreg` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',

--

docs/tables.sql [optional]


Line 518

Insert into -> Add this line:

`setreg` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',

--

install/install.php [optional]


Around Line 930 [data has since shifted]

Insert into -> Add this line:

`setreg` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',

--

languages/en.php


Line 306

Insert into -> Add this line:

define ("_REGDISABLED", "The administrator has disabled new user registrations to this website.");

---

languages/en_admin.php


Line 214

Insert into -> Add this line:

define ("_SETREG", "Enable New User Registrations");


Line 334

Insert into -> Add this line:

define ("_HELP_SETREG", "Enables or disables new user registrations to your website.");

---

user/register.php [This disables the page outright.]


Line 27

Add this segment:

if(isset($setreg) && $setreg == 0) {
$output .= "<div align='center' style='margin-top: 1em;'>"._REGDISABLED."</div>";
}

--

user/register.php [This disables the page for non-admins so you can test the
page in the Page links settings from the Admin panel. This is proper.]


Line 27

Add this segment:

// This is to show the registration page as admin regardless of the registration setting
// for the Page Links section in the Admin Panel

if((isADMIN && uLEVEL == 1) && (isset($setreg) && $setreg == 0)) {
    include ("user/editbio.php");
}

else if ((!isADMIN && uLEVEL != 1) && (isset($setreg) && $setreg == 0)) {
    $output .= "<div align='center' style='margin-top: 1em;'>"._REGDISABLED."</div>";
}

--

update.php [optional]


Line 290

Insert into -> Add this line:

		if (!dbassoc(dbquery("SHOW COLUMNS FROM ".TABLEPREFIX."fanfiction_settings LIKE 'setreg'")))
			dbquery("ALTER TABLE `".TABLEPREFIX."fanfiction_settings` ADD `setreg` tinyint(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1' AFTER `multiplecats`");

--

Your database will need to be updated to support this feature:

SELECT [database];
SHOW COLUMNS FROM [tableprefix]fanfiction_settings LIKE 'setreg';

If the setreg column does not exist, run this query:

ALTER TABLE `[tableprefix]fanfiction_settings` ADD `setreg` TINYINT(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1' AFTER `multiplecats`;