Documentation
3.5. Users Management
3.5.1. Manage Users
Users are the basis of your forum. As a forum administrator, it is very important to be able to manage your users. Managing your users and their information and specific options is easy, and can be done via the ACP.
To begin, log in and reach your ACP. Find and click on to reach the necessary page. If you do not see , simply find and click on in the navigation menu on the left side of the page.
To continue and manage a user, you must know the username(s) that you want to manage. In the textbox for the "Find a member:" field, type in the username of the user whose information and settings you wish to manage. On the other hand, if you want to find a member, click on [ Find a Member ] (which is below the textbox) and follow all the steps appropriate to find and select a user. If you wiant to manage the information and settings for the Anonymous user (any visitor who is not logged in is set as the Anonymous user), check the checkbox labeled "Select Anonymous User". Once you have selected a user, click Submit.
There are many sections relating to a user's settings. The following are subsections that have more information on each form. Each form allows you to manage specific settings for the user you have selected. When you are done with editing the data on each form, click Submit (located at the bottom of each form) to submit your changes.
3.5.1.1. User Overview
This is the first form that shows up when you first select a user to manage. Here, all of the general information and settings for each user is displayed.
- Username
This is the name of the user you're currently managing. If you want to change the user's username, type in a new username between three and twenty characters long into the textbox labeled Username:
- Registered
This is the complete date on which the user registered. You cannot edit this value.
- Registered from IP
This is the IP address from which the user registered his or her account. If you want to determine the IP hostname, click on the IP address itself. The current page will reload and will display the appropriate information. If you want to perform a whois on the IP address, click on the Whois link. A new window will pop up with this data.
- Last Active
This is the complete date on which the user was last active.
- Founder
Founders are users who have all administrator permissions and can never be banned, deleted or altered by non-founder members. If you want to set this user as a founder, select the Yes radio button. To remove founder status from a user, select the No radio button.
This is the user's currently set email address. To change the email address, fill in the Email: textbox with a valid email.
- Confirm email address
This textbox should only be filled if you are changing the user's email address. If you are changing the email address, both the Email: textbox and this one should be filled with the same email address. If you do not fill this in, the user's email address will not be changed.
- New password
As an administrator, you cannot see any of your users' password. However, it is possible to change passwords. To change the user's password, type in a new password in the New password: textbox. The new password has to be between six and thirty characters long.
Important
Before submitting any changes to the user, make sure this field is blank, unless you really want to change the user's password. If you accidentally change the user's password, the original password cannot be recovered!
- Confirm new password
This textbox should only be filled if you are changing the user's password. If you are changing the user's password, the Confirm new password: textbox needs to be filled in with the same password you filled in in the above New password: textbox.
- Warnings
This is the number of warnings the user currently has. You can edit this number by typing in a number into the Warnings: number field. Only positive integers are allowed.
For more information about warnings, see ???.
- Quick Tools
The options in the Quick Tools drop-down selection box allow you to quickly and easily change one of the user's options. The available options are Delete Signature, Delete Avatar, Move all Posts, Delete all Posts, and Delete all attachments.
3.5.1.2. User Feedback
Another aspect of managing a user is editing their feedback data. Feedback consists of any sort of user warning issued to the user by a forum administrator.
To customise the display of the user's existing log entries, select any criteria for your customisation by selecting your options in the drop-down selection boxes entitled Display entries from previous: and Sort by:. Display entries from previous: allows you to set a specific time period in which the feedback was issued. Sort by: allows you to sort the existing log entries by , , , and . The log entries can then be sorted in ascending or descending order. When you are done setting these options, click the Go button to update the page with your customisations.
Another way of managing a user's feedback data is by adding feedback. Simply find the section entitled Add feedback and enter your message into the FEEDBACK text area. When you are done, click Submit to add the feedback.
3.5.1.3. User Profile
Users may sometimes have content in their forum profile that requires that you either update it or delete it. If you don't want to change a field, leave it blank.The following are the profile fields that you can change:
ICQ Number has to be a number at least three digits long.
AOL Instant Messenger can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols.
MSN Messenger can have any alphanumeric characters, but should look similar to an email address (joebloggs@example.com).
Yahoo Messenger can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols.
Jabber address can have any alphanumeric characters, but needs to look like an email address would (joebloggs@example.com).
Website can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols, but must have the protocol included (ex. http://www.example.com).
Location can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols.
Occupation can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols.
Interests can have any alphanumeric characters and symbols.
Birthday can be set with three different drop-down selection boxes: Day:, Month:, and Year:, respectively. Setting a year will list the user's age when it is his or her birthday.
3.5.1.4. User Preferences
Users have many settings they can use for their account. As an administrator, you can change any of these settings. The user settings (also known as preferences) are grouped into three main categories: Global Settings, Posting Defaults, and Display Options.
3.5.1.5. User Avatar
Here you can manage the user's avatar. If the user has already set an avatar for himself/herself, then you are able to see the avatar image.
Depending on your avatar settings (for more information on avatar settings, see Avatar Settings), you can choose any option available to change the user's avatar: Upload from your machine, Upload from a URL, or Link off-site. You can also select an avatar from your board's avatar gallery by clicking the Display gallery button next to Local gallery:.
Note
The changes you make to the user's avatar still has to comply with the limitations you've set in the avatar settings.
To delete the avatar image, simply check the Delete image checkbox underneath the avatar image.
When you are done choosing what avatar the user will have, click Submit to update the user's avatar.
3.5.1.6. User Rank
Here you can set the user's rank. You can set the user's rank by selecting the rank from the User Rank: drop-down selection box. After you've picked the rank, click Submit to update the user's rank.
For more information about ranks, see ???.
3.5.1.7. User Signature
Here you can add, edit, or delete the user's signature.
The user's current signature should be displayed in the Signature form. Just edit the signature by typing whatever you want into the text area. You can use BBCode and any other special formatting with what's provided. When you are done editing the user's signature, click Submit to update the user's signature.
Note
The signature that you set has to obey the board's signature limitations that you currently have set.
3.5.1.8. Groups
Here you can see all of the usergroups that the user is in. From this page you can easily remove the user from any usergroup, or add the user to an existing group. The table entitled Special groups user is a member of lists out the usergroups the user is currently a member of.
Adding the user to a new usergroup is very easy. To do so, find the pull-down menu labeled Add user to group: and select a usergroup from that menu. Once the usergroup is selected, click Submit. Your addition will immediately take effect.
To delete the user from a group he/she is currently a member of, find the row that the usergroup is in, and click Delete. You will be greeted with a confirmation screen; if you want to go ahead and do so, click Yes.
3.5.1.9. Permissions
Here you can see all of the permissions currently set for the user. For each group the user is in, there is a separate section on the page for the permissions that relates to that category. To actually set the user's permissions, see Section 3.7, “Permission Overload”.
3.5.1.10. Attachments
Depending on the current attachments settings, your users may already have attachments posted. If the user has already uploaded at least one attachment, you can see the listing of the attachment(s) in the table. The data available for each attachment consist of: Filename, Topic title, Post time, Filesize, and Downloads.
To help you in managing the user's attachment(s), you can choose the sorting order of the attachments list. Find the Sort by: pull-down menu and pick the category you want to use the sort the list (the possible options are , , , , , and . To choose the sorting order, choose either or from the pull-down menu besides the sorting category. Once you are done, click Go.
To view the attachment, click on the attachment's filename. The attachment will open in the same browser window. You can also view the topic in which the attachment was posted by clicking on the link besides the Topic: label, which is below the filename. Deleting the user's attachment(s) is very easy. In the attachments listing, check the checkboxes that are next to the attachment(s) you want to delete. When everything you want has been selected, click Delete marked, which is located below the attachments listing.
Tip
To select all of the attachments shown on the page, click the Mark all link, which is below the attachments listing. This helps especially if you want to delete all of the attachments shown on the page at once.
3.5.2. Inactive Users
Here you are able to view details of all users who are currently marked as inactive along with the reason their account is marked as inactive and when this occurred.
Using the checkboxes on this page it is possible to perform bulk actions on the users, these include activating the accounts, sending them a reminder email indicating that they need to activate their account or deleting the account.
There are 5 reasons which may be indicated for an account being inactive:
- Account deactivated by administrator
This account has been manually deactivated by an administrator via the user management tools. More details on who performed this action and the reasons may be available via the User Notes.
- Profile details changed
The board is configured to require user activation and this user has changed key information related to their account such as the email address and is required to reactivate the account to confirm these changes.
- Newly registered account
The board is configured to require user activation and either the user or an administrator (depending on the settings) has not yet activated this new account.
- Forced user account reactivation
An administrator has forced this user to reactivate their account via the user management tools. More details on who performed this action and the reasons may be available via the User Notes.
- Unknown
No reason was recorded for this user being inactive; it is likely that the change was made by an external application or that this user was added from another source.
3.5.3. Users' permissions
Along with being able to manage users' information, it is also important to be able to regularly maintain and control permissions for the users on your board. User permissions include capabilities such as the use of avatars and sending private messages. Global moderator permissions includings abilities such as approving posts, managing topics, and managing bans. Lastly administrator permissions such as altering permissions, defining custom BBCodes, and managing forums.
To start managing a user's permissions, locate the tab and click on in the left-side navigation menu. Here, you can assign global permissions to users. In the Look Up User. In the Find a user field, type in the username of the user whose permissions you want to edit. (If you want to edit the anonymous user, check the Select anonymous user checkbox.) Click Submit.
Permissions are grouped into three different categories: user, moderator, and admin. Each user can have specific settings in each permission category. To faciliate user permissions editing, it is possible to assign specific preset roles to the user.
Important
For the following permissions editing actions that are described, there are three choices you have to choose from. You may either select Yes, No, or Never. Selecting Yes will enable the selected permission for the user, while selecting No will disallow the user from having permission for the selected setting, unless another permission setting from another area overrides the setting. If you want to completely disallow the user from having the selected permission ever, then select Never. The Never setting will override all other values assigned to the setting.
To edit the user's User permissions, select " from the Select type selection menu, then press Go. Select the role to apply to the user. If you would like to use the advanced form that will offer more detailed permission configuration, click the Advanced Permissions link. A new form will pop up below the Role selection menu. There are four categories of permissions you may edit: Post, Profile, Misc, and Private messages.
To edit the user's Moderative permissions, select " from the Select type selection menu, then press Go. Select the role to apply to the user. If you would like to use the advanced form that will offer more detailed permission configuration, click the Advanced Permissions link. A new form will pop up below the Role selection menu. There are three categories of permissions you may edit: Post actions, Misc, and Topic actions.
To edit the user's Administrative permissions, select " from the Select type selection menu, then press Go. Select the role to apply to the user. If you would like to use the advanced form that will offer more detailed permission configuration, click the Advanced Permissions link. A new form will pop up below the Role selection menu. There are six categories of permissions you may edit: Permissions, Posting, Misc, Users & Groups, Settings, and Forums.
3.5.4. User Security
Other than being able to manage your users on your board, it is also important to be able to protect your board and prevent unwanted registrations and users. The User Security section allows you to manage banned emails, IPs, and usernames, as well as managing disallowed usernames and user pruning. Banned users that exhibit information that match any of these ban rules will not be able to reach any part of your board.
3.5.4.1. Ban emails
Sometimes, it is necessary to ban emails in order to prevent unwanted registrations. There may be certain users or spam bots that use emails that you are aware of. Here, in the section, you can do this. You can control which email addresses are banned, how long a ban is in effect, and the given reason(s) for banning.
To ban or exclude one or more email addresses, fill in the Ban one or more email addresses form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more email addresses
Email address: This textbox should contain all the emails that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one email at this time, put each email on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to match partial addresses.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the email address(es) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the email address(es) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered email address from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the email address(es). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the email address(es).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the users with the banned email address(es). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding emails to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude email addresses from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more email addresses from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude emails form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude emails
Email address: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned emails. Select the email that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the email in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one email address, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the emails you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.4.2. Ban IPs
Sometimes, it is necessary to ban IP addresses or hostnames in order to prevent unwanted users. There may be certain users or spam bots that use IPs or hostnames that you are aware of. Here, in the section, you can do this. You can control which IP addresses or hostnames are banned, how long a ban is in effect, and the given reason(s) for banning.
To ban or exclude one or more IP addresses and/or hostnames, fill in the Ban one or more email addresses form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more IPs
IP addresses or hostnames: This textbox should contain all of the IP addresses and/or hostnames that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one IP address and/or hostname at this time, put each IP address and/or hostname on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to match partial addresses.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered IP address(es) and/or hostnames from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the users with the banned IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude IPs form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude IPs
IP addresses or hostnames: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). Select the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one IP address and/or hostname, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.4.3. Ban Users
Whenever you encounter troublesome users on your board, you may have to ban them. On the page, you can do exactly that. On this page, you can manage all banned usernames.
To ban or exclude one or more users, fill in the Ban one or more users form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more usernames
Username: This textbox should contain all of the usernames that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one username at this time, put each username on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to partially match usernames.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the username(s) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the username(s) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered username(s) from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the username(s). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the user(s).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the banned user(s). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding users to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude usernames from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more users from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude usernames form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude usernames
Username: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned usernames. Select the username(s) that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the username(s) in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one username, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the usernames you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.4.4. Disallow usernames
In phpBB3, it is also possible to disallow the registration of certain usernames that match any usernames that you configure. (This is useful if you want to prevent users from registering with usernames that might confuse them with an important board member.) To manage disallowed usernames, go to the ACP, click the tab, and then click on , which is located on the side navigation menu.
To add a disallowed username, locate the Add a disallowed username form, and then type in the username in the textbox labeled Username.
Tip
You can use wildcards (*) to match any character. For example, to disallow any username that matches "JoeBloggs", you could type in "Joe*". This would prevent all users from registering a username that starts with "Joe".
Once you are done, click Submit.
To remove a disallowed username, locate the Remove a disallowed username form. Select the disallowed username that you would like to remove from the Username selection menu. Click Submit to remove the selected disallowed username.
3.5.4.5. Prune users
In phpBB3, it is possible to prune users from your board in order to keep only your active members. You can also delete a whole user account, along with everything associated with the user account. allows you to prune and deactivate user accounts on your board by post count, last visited date, and more.
To start the pruning process, locate the Prune users form. You can prune users based on any combination of the available criteria. (In other words, fill out every field in the form that applies to the user(s) you're targeting for pruning.) When you are ready to prune users that match your specified settings, click Submit.
Prune users
Username: Enter a username that you want to be pruned. You can use wildcards (*) to prune users that have a username that matches the given pattern.
Email: The email that you want to be pruned. You can use wildcards (*) to prune users that have an email address that matches the given pattern.
Joined: You can also prune users based on their date of registration. To prune users who joined before a certain date (be careful with this setting), choose Before from the selection menu. To prune users who joined after a certain date, choose After from the selection menu. The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Last active: You can also prune users based on the last time they were active. To prune users who were last active before a certain date (be careful with this setting), choose Before from the selection menu. To prune users who were last after a certain date (this is useful to prune users who have disappeared from your board), choose After from the selection menu. The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Posts: You can prune users based on their post count as well. The criteria for post count can be above, below, or equal to, a specified number. The value you enter must be a positive integer.
Prune users: The usernames of the users you want to prune. Each username you want to prune should be on its own line. You can use wildcards (*) in username patterns as well.
Delete pruned user posts: When users are removed (actually deleted and not just deactivated), you must choose what to do with their posts. To delete all of the posts that belong to the pruned user(s), select the radio button labeled Yes. Otherwise, select No and the pruned user(s)' posts will remain on the board, untouched.
Deactivate or delete: You must choose whether you want to deactivate the pruned user(s)' accounts, or to completely delete and remove them from the board's database.
Warning
Pruning users cannot be undone! Be careful with the criteria you choose when pruning users.
