Help:Extension:XenForoAuth/Local account already exists

If a MediaWiki installation, where you want to log in to, provides a way to log in with a XenForo based forum using the XenForoAuth extension, you probably see an error message like this when you try to log in with your XenForo account to this wiki:

"You successfully logged into your XenForo account. However, an account with the user name {your username} already exists in {the wikiname} and is not connected with your XenForo account, so you couldn't be logged in. See the help page for this error to get more information."

This error message informs you, that:
 * You successfully logged into your account of the XenForo based account. This means, that your login data are correct (so you successfully logged into the XenForo based forum) and you allowed the wiki to access your account information, such as your username and your email address. All requirements to log you in with your account are fulfilled with that.
 * a local wiki account already exists with the username mentioned in the message (your XenForo based forum username). This means, that the wiki, where you want to log in to, tried to automatically create a local MediaWiki account to connect your XenForo account to (as your XenForo account currently isn't connected to a local MediaWiki user). Unfortunately, this failed, because there's already an account in the local MediaWiki user database, which uses your username.
 * You couldn't be logged into the wiki and were redirected to this help page

What can I do now?
There are several different ways how you can react to this message, which are described in the following sections.

You already have a local account in this wiki
If you already have a local MediaWiki account for the wiki where you tried to log in, you can simply connect your XenForo account with this already existing account. To achieve this, you need to follow these steps:
 * 1) Log into your local MediaWiki account using another authentication provider (e.g. your username and your password)
 * 2) Navigate to the Special:LinkAccounts special page on the wiki (e.g. by writing the name of the special page into the address bar of your browser or into the search form and hitting enter)
 * 3) (You probably need to verify your login by entering your password again)
 * 4) Click the Link XenForo to wiki account (The XenForo probably was changed to the name of the XenForo based forum)
 * 5) Follow the workflow you see on your screen until you see the message The account was linked.
 * 6) Congratulations! That's basically it. You now can log out and log in again with your XenForo account.

You do not have a local account in this wiki
If you does not have a local MediaWiki account for the wiki where you tried to log in, you need to create a user account manually first. Please follow these steps:
 * 1) Navigate to the Special:CreateAccount special page (e.g. by writing the name of the special page into the address bar of your browser or into the search form and hitting enter)
 * 2) Choose a username and type it into the Username field of the Create account form
 * 3) Leave the other input fields empty
 * 4) Click the Create with XenForo button (The XenForo probably was changed to the name of the XenForo based forum) to create the user account with the XenForo based forum
 * 5) Congratulations! You've created a new account and it was automatically connected with your XenForo account.