Open registration

Settings → Administration → Open registration. While it is on, any visitor reaching the instance can open an account of their own. Turn it off once the people who should be on it are on it, which on a household instance is after the second or third sign-up.

The switch applies at once. A closed instance answers 403 Registration is closed to a sign-up and the login screen stops offering the link; sessions already open are untouched.

Where the value lives

Two places, and the order between them is what surprises people.

REGISTRATION_ENABLED in .env is the default, read only while the switch has never been moved. The moment it is moved, the choice is stored in the database under the key registration_enabled, and from then on it wins. So on an instance whose administration screen has been touched, closing sign-ups in .env and restarting changes nothing.

Caution

REGISTRATION_ENABLED=false is not a lock. It is the value used until an administrator overrides it, and the override survives restarts, rebuilds and updates.

Close them from the screen, or check the screen after editing the file.

The other switch on that tab

Demonstration mode sits under it, and is stored the same way: the key demo_enabled in the database, with DEMO_SEED_ENABLED as its default. Turning it on seeds a read-only account filled with sample data, which takes a moment and says so while it works. Turning it off leaves the account row behind on purpose, so turning it back on is instant.

Why the tab may not be there

The Administration tab is drawn only for an account whose role is admin. A reader without that role sees seven tabs instead of eight and no switch anywhere, which is the intended outcome and not a missing feature.

The address exists for everyone, since it is a path rather than a permission: /reglages/administration on an account that is not an administrator redirects to the landing tab rather than showing an empty page with no way out. Those two together are why “I cannot find the setting” and “I am not an administrator on this instance” look identical from the browser.

The role itself comes from whoever created the instance’s first account, which First start covers.