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SimpleLogin - Passwordless Authentication for Joomla

🔐 Log in without passwords. Securely. Simply.

SimpleLogin is a powerful Joomla system plugin that enables passwordless authentication via secure email links. Users can log in to your website by requesting a login link sent to their email address — no password required. New users can also register without creating a password, receiving an activation link instead.

✨ Features

🔑 Passwordless Login

  • One-click login: Users receive a secure link via email
  • Time-limited: Links expire after a configurable period (default: 15 minutes)
  • Single-use: Each link can only be used once
  • Secure: Uses cryptographically secure tokens

👤 Passwordless Registration

  • Easy signup: New users can register with just name and email
  • Email verification: Accounts are activated via email link
  • No password needed: Users never need to create or remember a password
  • Duplicate prevention: Existing users receive a login link instead

🛡️ Security Features

  • Rate limiting: Prevents brute force attacks (configurable per IP and user)
  • Cooldown period: Enforces minimum wait time between requests
  • Scanner detection: Blocks automated bots and scanners
  • Token revocation: Old tokens are automatically invalidated
  • Password enforcement: Optionally disable password login entirely

📊 Admin Features

  • Comprehensive logging: Track all login attempts and actions
  • Throttle monitoring: View active rate-limited requests
  • Log export: Export logs via email for analysis
  • Bulk operations: Hash all existing passwords to enforce passwordless-only
  • Customizable: Configure all aspects of the plugin

🌍 Multi-Language Support

  • English: Full support
  • Dutch (Nederlands): Full support
  • Easy to translate: All strings are language-ready

📥 Installation

Method 1: Joomla Installer (Recommended)

  1. Download the plugin package (simplelogin.zip) from the releases page
  2. Go to Joomla Administrator → System → Extensions → Install
  3. Upload the package file and click "Upload & Install"
  4. Enable the plugin: Extensions → Plugins → System - Simplelogin → Enable

Method 2: Manual Installation

  1. Extract the plugin files to /plugins/system/simplelogin/
  2. Go to Joomla Administrator → System → Extensions → Discover
  3. Discover the plugin and install it
  4. Enable the plugin

Method 3: Git Clone (Developers)

cd /path/to/joomla/plugins/system
git clone https://github.com/adstam/simplelogin.git simplelogin

Then install via Joomla Extensions → Discover.

⚙️ Configuration

After installation, configure the plugin:

  1. Go to Extensions → Plugins → System - Simplelogin
  2. Click on the plugin name to edit settings
  3. Configure the options as needed
  4. Save your changes

🔧 Main Settings

General Configuration

Setting Description Recommended Value
Landing Page Option Where users go after login Homepage or Custom
Landing Page Menu Item Custom page for post-login redirect Select your page
Login with Password Allowed Allow traditional password login No (for full passwordless)
Bulk Password Hashing Hash all existing frontend passwords Use when disabling passwords

Email Templates

Customize the email messages sent to users:

Login Email:

  • Subject: The email subject line
  • Body: The email content. Use placeholders:
    • #name - User's name
    • #link - Login link (auto-added if not in body)
    • #expiry - Link validity in minutes

Registration Email:

  • Subject: The activation email subject
  • Body: The activation email content. Same placeholders as above.

🔒 Security Settings

Base Limits

Setting Description Default Recommended
Link Expiry (minutes) How long login links are valid 15 15-60
Registration Link Expiry (minutes) How long registration links are valid 30 30-120
Cooldown (seconds) Minimum wait between requests 30 30-60

Rate Limits

Setting Description Default Recommended
Max Requests per IP Max attempts from one IP 10 5-20
IP Window (minutes) Time window for IP rate limiting 5 5-15
Max Requests per User Max attempts per user 5 3-10
User Window (minutes) Time window for user rate limiting 10 10-30

Logging & Cleanup

Setting Description Default Recommended
Record Retention (minutes) How long to keep throttle records 60 60-1440
Log Retention (days) How long to keep audit logs 30 7-90

🚀 Getting Started

For Site Visitors (End Users)

Logging In

  1. Find the login link on your website (usually in the user menu or login module)
  2. Enter your email address in the form
  3. Click "Send login link"
  4. Check your email for a message from the website
  5. Click the link in the email to log in automatically
  6. You're logged in! No password needed

Registering a New Account

  1. Find the registration link on your website
  2. Enter your name and email address
  3. Click "Register"
  4. Check your email for an activation link
  5. Click the activation link to confirm your account
  6. You'll receive a login link automatically after activation

For Administrators

First-Time Setup

  1. Install and enable the plugin
  2. Configure the email templates with your branding
  3. Test the login flow with a test user account
  4. Monitor the logs in the plugin settings
  5. Optionally disable password login if desired

Testing the Plugin

  1. Create a test user account (Users → Manage → Add)
  2. Go to the frontend and request a login link
  3. Check that the test user receives the email
  4. Verify the link works and logs the user in
  5. Check the admin logs for the login attempt

Disabling Password Login

To enforce passwordless-only authentication:

  1. Go to plugin settings
  2. Set "Login with Password Allowed" to No
  3. Click "Hash all frontend passwords" button
  4. Save settings

⚠️ Warning: This will make it impossible for users to log in with passwords. Ensure all users have access to their email accounts.

🎨 Frontend Integration

Adding Login/Registration Links

The plugin automatically intercepts core Joomla login and registration pages. To add login/registration to your site:

Option 1: Use Joomla Menu Items

  1. Create a menu item → Users → Login Form
  2. The plugin will automatically redirect to passwordless login
  3. If password login is allowed, users can switch to password login

Option 2: Custom Login Button

Add a link to trigger the login overlay:

<a href="/index.php/simplelogin/simple-login-backlog?simplelogin=1">Login with Email</a>

Option 3: Custom Registration Button

Add a link to trigger the registration overlay:

<a href="/index.php/simplelogin/simple-login-backlog?sl_task=register">Create Account</a>

Option 4: Module Integration

Create a custom HTML module with:

<div class="simplelogin-buttons">
    <a href="/index.php/simplelogin/simple-login-backlog?simplelogin=1" class="btn btn-primary">Login</a>
    <a href="/index.php/simplelogin/simple-login-backlog?sl_task=register" class="btn btn-secondary">Register</a>
</div>

Styling the Overlay

The plugin includes default styling for the login/registration overlays. To customize:

  1. Override the layout files in your template:
    • Copy /plugins/system/simplelogin/layouts/simplelogin/overlay.php to /templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/layouts/simplelogin/overlay.php
    • Modify as needed
  2. Add custom CSS to your template:
/* Custom SimpleLogin overlay styling */
#simplelogin-overlay .sl-modal {
    background: #f8f9fa;
    border-radius: 8px;
}
#simplelogin-overlay .sl-btn-primary {
    background: #007bff;
    border-color: #007bff;
}

📊 Monitoring & Maintenance

Viewing Logs

  1. Go to Extensions → Plugins → System - Simplelogin
  2. Scroll to the Logging section
  3. Use the Log Report to view recent activity
  4. Filter by type if needed

Log Types

Type Description
LoginFlow User login attempts and successes
InviteFlow Registration and activation events
SecurityIncident Rate limiting, scanner detection
AccountEvent User account changes
**Debug*** Debug information (only when Joomla debug is enabled)

Exporting Logs

  1. In the plugin settings, go to the Logging section
  2. Click "Export Log (last 24 hours)"
  3. Logs will be emailed to the site administrator

Throttle Monitoring

  1. Go to the Active Sessions section in plugin settings
  2. View current throttle records
  3. Monitor for suspicious activity

Cleanup

The plugin automatically cleans up:

  • Expired tokens
  • Old throttle records (based on retention setting)
  • Old log entries (based on retention setting)

❓ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Users don't receive emails

Check:

  1. ✅ Joomla mail settings are configured correctly
  2. ✅ Test emails work via System → Global Configuration → Server → Mail Settings
  3. ✅ Emails are not in spam folder
  4. ✅ Plugin email templates have valid subjects and bodies
  5. ✅ User email addresses are valid and verified

Solution:

  • Test with a known working email address
  • Check Joomla mail queue if using queued emails
  • Verify SMTP settings if using SMTP

Login links don't work

Check:

  1. ✅ Link hasn't expired (check expiry time in settings)
  2. ✅ Link hasn't been used already (single-use)
  3. ✅ User account is not blocked
  4. ✅ User account is activated
  5. ✅ Token exists in database (#__simple_login table)

Solution:

  • Request a new login link
  • Check plugin logs for errors
  • Verify database records exist

Registration links don't work

Check:

  1. ✅ Link hasn't expired (default: 30 minutes)
  2. ✅ Link hasn't been used already
  3. ✅ User account still exists (not deleted due to expiry)

Solution:

  • Register again with the same email
  • Check if the user already exists
  • Verify database records

"Too many attempts" error

Check:

  1. ✅ Rate limiting settings in plugin configuration
  2. ✅ IP address hasn't exceeded rate limit
  3. ✅ User hasn't exceeded rate limit
  4. ✅ Cooldown period has passed

Solution:

  • Wait for the rate limit window to expire
  • Try from a different IP address
  • Adjust rate limiting settings if too restrictive

"Request denied" or "Access denied" error

Check:

  1. ✅ User agent is not blocked (not a bot/scanner)
  2. ✅ CSRF token is valid
  3. ✅ User has permission to perform the action

Solution:

  • Try with a regular browser
  • Clear browser cache and cookies
  • Check for suspicious user agents

Debugging

Enable Debug Mode

  1. Go to System → Global Configuration → System
  2. Set Debug System to Yes
  3. Set Debug Language to Yes (optional)

This will:

  • Log debug information to /logs/plg_system_simplelogin.php
  • Add debug entries to the log table (type: Debug*)
  • Show detailed error messages

Check Database Tables

The plugin uses three database tables:

  1. **#__simple_login** - Active tokens 
    SELECT * FROM #__simple_login WHERE used = 0;
  2. **#__simple_login_throttle** - Rate limiting data 
    SELECT * FROM #__simple_login_throttle ORDER BY created DESC LIMIT 100;
  3. **#__simple_login_log** - Audit logs 
    SELECT * FROM #__simple_login_log ORDER BY created DESC LIMIT 100;

Clear Caches

If changes don't appear:

  1. Clear Joomla cache: System → Clear Cache
  2. Clear browser cache
  3. The plugin automatically clears relevant caches on install/update

🔄 Upgrading

From Previous Versions

  1. Backup your website and database
  2. Download the latest version
  3. Install via Joomla Extensions → Install
  4. Clear cache if needed

Update Server

The plugin includes an update server for automatic updates:

  • Update server URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adstam/simplelogin/main/update.xml
  • Joomla will automatically check for updates

🚫 Uninstalling

Before Uninstalling

  1. Backup your database
  2. Inform users that passwordless login will no longer be available
  3. Re-enable password login if it was disabled
  4. Export logs if you need them for records

Uninstall Process

  1. Go to Extensions → Manage → Manage
  2. Search for System - Simplelogin
  3. Select the plugin and click Uninstall
  4. The plugin and all its data will be removed

Note: Uninstalling removes:

  • Plugin files
  • Database tables (#__simple_login, #__simple_login_throttle, #__simple_login_log)
  • Plugin configuration

📜 Changelog

Version 1.0.41 (July 5, 2026)

  • Initial stable release
  • Passwordless login via email links
  • Passwordless registration with email activation
  • Comprehensive security features (rate limiting, cooldown, scanner detection)
  • Full logging and monitoring
  • Multi-language support (English, Dutch)
  • Admin dashboard with logs and reports

🤝 Contributing

Reporting Issues

If you encounter any bugs or have feature requests:

  1. Check the troubleshooting section
  2. Verify the issue still exists in the latest version
  3. Create an issue on GitHub with:
    • Clear description of the problem
    • Steps to reproduce
    • Expected vs actual behavior
    • Joomla version, PHP version, plugin version
    • Any relevant error messages

Development Setup

  1. Fork the repository on GitHub
  2. Clone your fork locally
  3. Install in a Joomla development environment
  4. Make your changes
  5. Test thoroughly
  6. Submit a pull request

Coding Standards

  • Follow Joomla Coding Standards
  • Use PSR-12 for PHP code
  • Include PHPDoc comments for all methods
  • Keep methods focused and single-purpose
  • Write secure code (validate all input, escape all output)

📄 License

SimpleLogin is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later (GPLv2+).

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

🙏 Credits

  • Product Owner & Concept: Ad Stam
  • Architecture & Development: AI Assistant
  • Testing & Feedback: Contributors
  • Inspiration: Magic link authentication patterns from modern web applications

📞 Support

Documentation

Community

Professional Support

For professional support, custom development, or consulting:

  • Website: https://demo.adstam.nl
  • Email: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

SimpleLogin - Making authentication simple, secure, and password-free. 🎉

Documentation last updated: July 5, 2026 | Plugin version: 1.0.41

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