Index: accounts/backends.py
===================================================================
--- accounts/backends.py	(revision 1570)
+++ accounts/backends.py	(working copy)
@@ -69,14 +69,22 @@
             ldapo.set_option(ldap.OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, 3)
             if settings.LDAP_TLS:
                 ldapo.start_tls_s()
-            ldapo.simple_bind_s(settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username, password)
 
+            search = ldapo.search_s(settings.LDAP_BASE_DN, ldap.SCOPE_ONELEVEL,
+                                    settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username )
+            ldapo.bind_s(search[0][0], password)
+
             return self.get_or_create_user(username)
 
         except ImportError:
             pass
         except ldap.INVALID_CREDENTIALS:
+            logging.warning("LDAP error: The specified object does not "
+                                "exist in the Directory: %s" %
+                                settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username)
             pass
+        except ldap.LDAPError, e:
+            logging.warning("LDAP error: %s" % e)
 
     def get_or_create_user(self, username):
         try:
@@ -88,11 +96,12 @@
                 ldapo.set_option(ldap.OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, 3)
                 if settings.LDAP_TLS:
                     ldapo.start_tls_s()
-                ldapo.simple_bind_s(settings.LDAP_ANON_BIND_UID,
-                                    settings.LDAP_ANON_BIND_PASSWD)
+		if settings.LDAP_ANON_BIND_UID:
+                    ldapo.simple_bind_s(settings.LDAP_ANON_BIND_UID,
+                                        settings.LDAP_ANON_BIND_PASSWD)
 
-                passwd = ldapo.search_s(settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username,
-                                        ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE, "objectclass=*")
+                passwd = ldapo.search_s(settings.LDAP_BASE_DN, ldap.SCOPE_ONELEVEL, 
+                                        settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username )
 
                 first_name = passwd[0][1]['givenName'][0]
                 last_name = passwd[0][1]['sn'][0]
@@ -119,7 +128,9 @@
                                 "exist in the Directory: %s" %
                                 settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username)
             except ldap.LDAPError, e:
-                logging.warning("LDAP error: %s" % e)
+                logging.warning("LDAP error: %s settings.LDAP_BASE_DN: %s "
+                                "settings.LDAP_UID_MASK: %s" % 
+                                (e, settings.LDAP_BASE_DN, settings.LDAP_UID_MASK % username))
         return user
 
     def get_user(self, user_id):
Index: admin/forms.py
===================================================================
--- admin/forms.py	(revision 1570)
+++ admin/forms.py	(working copy)
@@ -79,8 +79,15 @@
         help_text=_("The LDAP server to authenticate with. "
                     "For example: ldap://localhost:389"))
 
+    auth_ldap_base_dn = forms.CharField(
+        label=_("LDAP Base DN"),
+        help_text=_("The LDAP Base DN for performing LDAP searches.  For example: "
+                    "ou=users,dc=example,dc=com"),
+	required=True)
+
     auth_ldap_email_domain = forms.CharField(
-        label=_("E-Mail Domain"))
+        label=_("E-Mail Domain"),
+	help_text=_("This is appened to the login username as the users email address."))
 
     auth_ldap_tls = forms.BooleanField(
         label=_("Use TLS for authentication"),
@@ -91,7 +98,7 @@
         initial="uid=%s,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com",
         help_text=_("The string representing the user. Use \"%(varname)s\" "
                     "where the username would normally go. For example: "
-                    "uid=%(varname)s,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com") %
+                    "(uid=%(varname)s)") %
                   {'varname': '%s'})
 
     auth_ldap_anon_bind_uid = forms.CharField(
@@ -135,6 +142,7 @@
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_uri'] = True
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_email_domain'] = True
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_tls'] = True
+            self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_base_dn'] = True
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_uid_mask'] = True
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_anon_bind_uid'] = True
             self.disabled_fields['auth_ldap_anon_bind_password'] = True
@@ -232,6 +240,7 @@
                 'classes': ('wide', 'hidden'),
                 'title':   _("LDAP Authentication Settings"),
                 'fields':  ('auth_ldap_uri',
+                            'auth_ldap_base_dn',
                             'auth_ldap_email_domain',
                             'auth_ldap_tls',
                             'auth_ldap_uid_mask',
Index: admin/siteconfig.py
===================================================================
--- admin/siteconfig.py	(revision 1570)
+++ admin/siteconfig.py	(working copy)
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
     'auth_ldap_anon_bind_passwd': 'LDAP_ANON_BIND_PASSWD',
     'auth_ldap_email_domain':     'LDAP_EMAIL_DOMAIN',
     'auth_ldap_tls':              'LDAP_TLS',
+    'auth_ldap_base_dn':          'LDAP_BASE_DN',
     'auth_ldap_uid_mask':         'LDAP_UID_MASK',
     'auth_ldap_uri':              'LDAP_URI',
     'auth_nis_email_domain':      'NIS_EMAIL_DOMAIN',