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+user.txt
+
+Documenting the MediaWiki User object.
+
+(DISCLAIMER: The documentation is not guaranteed to be in sync with
+the code at all times. If in doubt, check the table definitions
+and User.php.)
+
+Database fields:
+
+  user_id
+    Unique integer identifier; primary key. Sent to user in
+    cookie "{$wgDBname}UserID".
+
+  user_name
+    Text of full user name; title of "user:" page.  Displayed
+    on change lists, etc.  Sent to user as cookie "{$wgDBname}UserName".
+    Note that user names can contain spaces, while these are
+    converted to underscores in page titles.
+
+  user_rights
+    Comma-separated list of rights. Right now, only "sysop",
+    "developer", "bureaucrat", and "bot" have meaning.
+
+  user_password
+    Salted md5 hash of md5-hashed user login password.  If user option to
+    remember password is set, an md5 password hash is stored in cookie
+    "{$wgDBname}UserPassword". The original password and the hashed password
+    can be compared to the salted-hashed-hashed password.
+
+  user_newpassword
+    Hash for randomly generated password sent on 'send me a new password'.
+    If a match is made on login, the new password will replace the old one.
+
+  user_email
+    User's e-mail address. (Optional, used for user-to-user
+    e-mail and password recovery.)
+
+  user_options
+    A urlencoded string of name=value pairs to set various
+    user options.
+
+  user_touched
+    Timestamp updated when the user logs in, changes preferences, alters
+    watchlist, or when someone edits their user talk page or they clear
+    the new-talk field by viewing it. Used to invalidate old cached pages
+    from the user's browser cache.
+
+  user_real_name
+    "Real name" optionally used in some metadata lists.
+
+The user object encapsulates all of the settings, and clients
+classes use the getXXX() functions to access them. These functions
+do all the work of determining whether the user is logged in,
+whether the requested option can be satisfied from cookies or
+whether a database query is needed. Most of the settings needed
+for rendering normal pages are set in the cookie to minimize use
+of the database.
+
+Options
+  The user_options field is a list of name-value pairs.  The
+  following option names are used at various points in the system: