diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3430434..9360a59 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 *.gz
 *.swp
-LdapContrib.md5
-LdapContrib.sha1
-LdapContrib.tgz
-LdapContrib.txt
-LdapContrib.zip
-LdapContrib_installer
-LdapContrib_installer.pl
+/LdapContrib.md5
+/LdapContrib.sha1
+/LdapContrib.tgz
+/LdapContrib.txt
+/LdapContrib.zip
+/LdapContrib_installer
+/LdapContrib_installer.pl
diff --git a/data/System/LdapContrib.txt b/data/System/LdapContrib.txt
index 5c31d71..82f400b 100644
--- a/data/System/LdapContrib.txt
+++ b/data/System/LdapContrib.txt
@@ -500,6 +500,7 @@ This work was partly sponsored by
 ---++ Change History
 
 %TABLE{columnwidths="7em" tablewidth="100%"}%
+|  02 Sep 2016: | added ability to login using an email address |
 |  22 Apr 2016: | added <nop>IgnoreReferrals switch; \
                   fixed occasional infinite loop when checking for an existing user; \
                   be more robust against misconfiguring ca-file and/or ca-path |
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib.pm b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib.pm
index 9d13050..f0c2716 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib.pm
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ use Encode ();
 use Foswiki::Func ();
 use Foswiki::Plugins ();
 
-our $VERSION = '7.40';
-our $RELEASE = '22 Apr 2016';
+our $VERSION = '7.50';
+our $RELEASE = '02 Sep 2016';
 our $SHORTDESCRIPTION = 'LDAP services for Foswiki';
 our $NO_PREFS_IN_TOPIC = 1;
 our %sharedLdapContrib;
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/Config.spec b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/Config.spec
index 7fcbbbd..9950146 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/Config.spec
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/Config.spec
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# ---+ Extensions
+# ---+ Security and Authentication
 # ---++ LDAP 
 # This is the configuration used by the <b>LdapContrib</b> and the
 # <b>LdapNgPlugin</b>. 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{Base} = 'dc=my,dc=domain,dc=com';
 # be to maintain the directory in a consistent state and remove stale referrals not to harm queries performance.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{IgnoreReferrals} = 0;
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING CHECK="undefok emptyok" **
 # The DN to use when binding to the LDAP server; if undefined anonymous binding
 # will be used. Example 'cn=proxyuser,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=com'
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{BindDN} = '';
@@ -83,29 +83,29 @@ $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{SASLMechanism} = 'PLAIN CRAM-MD5 EXTERNAL ANONYMOUS';
 # You will need to specify the servers CA File using the TLSCAFile or TLSCAPath option
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{UseTLS} = 0;
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok" **
 # This defines the version of the SSL/TLS protocol to use. Possible values are:
 # 'sslv2', 'sslv3',  'sslv2/3' or 'tlsv1'
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSSSLVersion} = 'tlsv1';
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Specify how to verify the servers certificate. Possible values are: 'require', 'optional'
 # or 'require'.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSVerify} = 'require';
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Filename containing the certificate of the CA which signed the server’s certificate.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSCAFile} = '';
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Pathname of the directory containing CA certificates. 
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSCAPath} = '';
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Client side certificate file
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSClientCert} = '';
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING DISPLAY_IF="{Ldap}{UseTLS}" CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Client side private key file
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{TLSClientKey} = '';
 
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{UserBase} = ['ou=people,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=com'];
 # Filter to be used to find login accounts. Compare to GroupFilter below
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{LoginFilter} = 'objectClass=posixAccount';
 
-# **SELECT sub,one**
+# **SELECT sub,one CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # The scope of the search for users starting at UserBase. While "sub" search recursively
 # a "one" will only search up to one level under the UserBase.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{UserScope} = 'sub';
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{NormalizeLoginNames} = 0;
 # Enable/disable case sensitive login names. If disabled case doesn't matter logging in.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{CaseSensitiveLogin} = 0;
 
-# **STRING**
+# **STRING CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # Alias old !WikiNames to new account. This is a comma separated list of
 # "OldName=NewName" values.
 # Warning: this setting is deprecated - use <code>RewriteWikiNames</code> instead
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{GroupBase} = ['ou=group,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=com'];
 # Filter to be used to find groups. Compare to LoginFilter.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{GroupFilter} = 'objectClass=posixGroup';
 
-# **SELECT sub,one**
+# **SELECT sub,one CHECK="undefok emptyok"**
 # The scope of the search for groups starting at GroupBase. While "sub" search recursively
 # a "one" will only search up to one level under the GroupBase.
 $Foswiki::cfg{Ldap}{GroupScope} = 'sub';
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/MANIFEST b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/MANIFEST
index d7c32bf..946ad8e 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/MANIFEST
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/MANIFEST
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapTemplateLogin.pm 0644
 lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapPasswdUser.pm 0644
 lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapUserMapping.pm 0644
 tools/ldaptest 0755
+tools/ldaptest.conf.example 0755
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/build.pl b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/build.pl
index 2396be3..8bf5277 100755
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/build.pl
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Contrib/LdapContrib/build.pl
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/perl -w
-#
-# Build for NatSkin
-#
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
 BEGIN {
   foreach my $pc (split(/:/, $ENV{FOSWIKI_LIBS})) {
     unshift @INC, $pc;
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapApacheLogin.pm b/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapApacheLogin.pm
index 11f5470..25f63a0 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapApacheLogin.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapApacheLogin.pm
@@ -66,7 +66,11 @@ sub loadSession {
   my $authUser = $this->SUPER::loadSession(@_);
   $authUser = Foswiki::Sandbox::untaintUnchecked($authUser);
 
-  return $this->{ldap}->loadSession($authUser);
+  if ($this->{ldap}->getWikiNameOfLogin($authUser)) {
+    $authUser =  $this->{ldap}->loadSession($authUser);
+  }
+
+  return $authUser;
 }
 
 1;
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapTemplateLogin.pm b/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapTemplateLogin.pm
index f07d027..9421ca9 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapTemplateLogin.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/LoginManager/LdapTemplateLogin.pm
@@ -66,7 +66,18 @@ sub loadSession {
   my $authUser = $this->SUPER::loadSession(@_);
   $authUser = Foswiki::Sandbox::untaintUnchecked($authUser);
 
-  return $this->{ldap}->loadSession($authUser);
+  if ($this->{ldap}->getWikiNameOfLogin($authUser)) {
+    $authUser =  $this->{ldap}->loadSession($authUser);
+  } else {
+    # try email
+    my $logins = $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfEmail($authUser);
+    if (defined $logins && scalar(@$logins)) {
+      $authUser = $logins->[0];
+      $authUser =  $this->{ldap}->loadSession(shift @$logins);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return $authUser;
 }
 
 1;
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapPasswdUser.pm b/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapPasswdUser.pm
index 3706dd0..c5bf07f 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapPasswdUser.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapPasswdUser.pm
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ sub userExists {
 
   return 1
     if $this->{ldap}->getWikiNameOfLogin($name)
-      || $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfWikiName($name);
+      || $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfWikiName($name)
+      || $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfEmail($name);
 
   if ($this->{secondaryPasswordManager}) {
     #writeDebug("asking secondary password manager");
@@ -188,6 +189,18 @@ sub checkPassword {
 
   # get user record
   my $dn = $this->{ldap}->getDnOfLogin($login);
+
+  # try to login using an email
+  unless ($dn) {
+    my $email = $login;
+    my $logins = $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfEmail($email);
+    if (defined $logins) {
+      foreach my $l (@$logins) {
+        $dn = $this->{ldap}->getDnOfLogin($l);
+        last if $dn;
+      }
+    }
+  }
   writeDebug("dn not found") unless $dn;
 
   return $this->{ldap}->connect($dn, $passU)
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapUserMapping.pm b/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapUserMapping.pm
index 9bcd315..de13eba 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapUserMapping.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Users/LdapUserMapping.pm
@@ -495,8 +495,9 @@ sub findUserByWikiName {
   if ($this->isGroup($wikiName)) {
     push @users, $wikiName;
   } else {
-    my $loginName = $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfWikiName($wikiName) || $wikiName;
+    my $loginName = $this->{ldap}->getLoginOfWikiName($wikiName);
     return $this->SUPER::findUserByWikiName($wikiName) if !$loginName && $this->{ldap}->{secondaryPasswordManager};
+    $loginName ||= $wikiName;
     my $cUID = $this->login2cUID($loginName, 1);
     push @users, $cUID if $cUID;
   }
diff --git a/tools/ldaptest b/tools/ldaptest
index 68c2542..319777c 100755
--- a/tools/ldaptest
+++ b/tools/ldaptest
@@ -24,31 +24,18 @@ use Net::LDAP qw(LDAP_REFERRAL);
 use Authen::SASL ();
 use URI::ldap;
 
-# usage: ldaptet 'ldap-query'
-
-## PLEASE MODIFIY #############################################
-
-# server name or IP address
-my $server = 'localhost';
-
-# dn from where searches are performed recursively
-my $baseDN = 'dc=nodomain';
-
-# username and credentials used to connect to the LDAP server;
-# if unset an anonymous connect will be used
-# CAUTION: when typing in a password, this is plain text.
-# please make sure that this file is only readable for authorized personell
-my $bindUser = '';
-my $bindPassword = '';
-
-my $useSASL = 0;
-my $saslMechanism = 'GSSAPI';
-
-# maximum number of records returned
-my $sizeLimit = 10;
-
-# possible values: "never", "search", "find", "always"
-my $deref = "always";
+our $server;
+our $baseDN = 'dc=nodomain';
+our $bindUser = '';
+our $bindPassword = '';
+our $useSASL = 0;
+our $saslMechanism = 'GSSAPI';
+our $sizeLimit = 10;
+our $deref = "always";
+
+require "ldaptest.conf";
+
+die "no server specified. please configure ldaptest.conf" unless $server;
 
 ###############################################################
 ldapSearch($server, $baseDN, $ARGV[0] || '(objectClass=*)');
diff --git a/tools/ldaptest.conf.example b/tools/ldaptest.conf.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6cf7ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ldaptest.conf.example
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# configuration file for ldaptest 
+
+# server name or IP address
+$server = '';
+
+# dn from where searches are performed recursively
+$baseDN = '';
+
+# username and credentials used to connect to the LDAP server;
+# if unset an anonymous connect will be used
+# CAUTION: when typing in a password, this is plain text.
+# please make sure that this file is only readable for authorized personell
+$bindUser = ''; 
+$bindPassword = '';
+
+# security settings
+$useSASL = 0;
+$saslMechanism = 'GSSAPI';
+
+# maximum number of records returned
+$sizeLimit = 10;
+
+# possible values: "never", "search", "find", "always"
+$deref = "always";