I've followed the instructions at: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Preventing_Access ... which prevents a new user from creating an account but which should still allow me as admin to create a new account, but I just can't make it work. Here are the instructions that I've been following from http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Preventing_Access - - In order to prevent new user registrations, the following line could be added to the LocalSettings.php file: $wgWhitelistAccount = array ( "sysop" => 1, "developer" => 1 ); Note: New users will still be able to be created by sysops, in the following manner: Go to [[Special:Userlogin]], when logged in as a sysop. Enter a username and an email address, and click the "by email" button. The account will be created with a random password which is then emailed to the given address. - - - However, when I do all this I just get a note in red saying: "You have not specified a valid user name."