Site administration -> Users
In the Users menu of the site administration you can:
Site administration -> Users -> User search
Site administrators can search for any user on the entire site. You can search for their
User search
You can combine any search and filter options. However, if you use too many, you may not yield any results.
You can perform a number of bulk actions for users on the Bulk actions page.
User bulk actions
Once you have selected users for whom you wish to perform the same action on the User search page and clicked on the Edit button, you can take any of the following steps.
Warning
When you delete accounts, all user data will be lost and cannot be recovered unless from a server backup file.
You can download basic user information for easier updating of these via a CSV file.
User reports
In order to get to the User reports page, you must select users for whom you wish to perform the same action on the User search page and click on the Get reports button.
Note
You can use this CSV file later on for updating existing accounts.
In addition to downloading basic user information, you can also view all the pages that have been created by the users and with whom they have been shared. This facilitates for example troubleshooting when users cannot view pages of others and the administrator would have to log in to the user account to check page permissions.
Note
This list is only available to site and institution administrators unless staff receive access to this list as well. The site administrator can decide that in the User settings in the option “Staff report access”.
User report page access list
Note
Though all pages, collections and groups are linked, you may not have direct access to them if you are not on the access list or a member of the group yourself.
Site administration -> Users -> User search -> Click on a username
On the Account settings page of a user in the administration area, you can perform a number of actions to manage the user’s account. However, you cannot change personal information about this user, e.g. name, email, from this page. This can only be done in the Content area of the user’s account or via the Add users by CSV page.
Overview of the user account settings page
As administrator you have the power to log in as any user that you manage and masquerade as them. If you are a site administrator, you can log in as any user while institution administrators can only perform this action for any user who is in their institution.
It is a great function for troubleshooting a user account because you see everything as the user would without having to know the password.
Warning
This function can be misused by administrators because you can make changes to the user’s portfolio and artefacts as well as participate in groups while logged in as that user. Users should be aware of this function and that an administrator can enter their account.
Sites should have clear policies around the use of this function so that the privacy of users and their portfolios and collaborative work is protected. Therefore, there should also not be many users within an institution who have administrator rights.
Login as another user
Stop masquerading as another user
When you want to return to your own account again, click the Become [your username] again link at the top of the browser window.
You can view and change a number of settings for a user’s account.
Note
Depending on the authentication method that is associated with this user, you may not be able to edit all settings.
Site account settings of a user
Warning
When the email address is disabled, users cannot reset their passwords themselves as no email can be sent.
You can view and change settings regarding a user’s membership in institutions. Depending on the site settings for institutions, a user may be added to more than one institution.
Institution settings for a user
Suspend a user if he does not follow the terms and conditions of the site and behaves inappropriately. Suspended users cannot log in, but all their content is still available.
Suspend a user
Suspension notice on the user account settings page
When a user has been suspended, the suspension message appears on the user’s account settings page stating the reason and the date for the suspension and giving the administrators the possibility to unsuspend the user by clicking on the Unsuspend user button.
Suspended user tries to log in and gets suspension message
When the user tries to log in, he will see the suspension message and the reason. He can then contact an administrator via the “Contact us” form for further action.
Users can delete their own accounts in their account settings if self-registration is allowed to by their institution. Administrators can also delete user accounts at any time.
Delete a user account
Click the Delete user button to delete this user account permanently. This action cannot be undone. As this is a permanent action, you see a confirmation pop-up window that you will have to acknowledge.
Warning
When you delete a user account, all personal data is wiped from the system. This applies to everything that is in a user’s Content and Portfolio area. This action cannot be undone. The user’s contributions in groups, e.g. forum messages, uploaded files and pages created in a group, are still available, but are made anonymous by changing the name to “Deleted user” as author where an author is shown.
Note
If an account was deleted by accident - either by a user or by an administrator - swift action may result in recovery of (most of) the data from a backup file. This requires access to the server’s backups and the backend of Mahara. More information is available on the wiki under Restoring a deleted user.
Site administration -> Users -> Suspended users
A list of all suspended and expired users is available in the sub-menu Suspended users. Here you can unsuspend / reactivate or delete them.
List of all suspended or expired users
Site administration -> Users -> Site staff
On this page you can choose which users receive site staff rights. Potential staff members - any user on the site - are listed on the left while existing site staff members are listed on the right.
Give site staff rights
Note
You can also double-click a name and it will be moved to the other side. This goes for all functionalities that are similar to this one here.
Site administration -> Users -> Site admins
Site administrators have powerful rights. They can make far-reaching changes and also log in as other users. Be careful whom you give these rights. One site administrator is needed for each site. The total number of site administrators should be kept small.
Give site admin rights
Note
You can also double-click a name and it will be moved to the other side. This goes for all functionalities that are similar to this one here.
Site administration -> Users -> Admin notifications
The Admin notifications page lists all users with institution and site administrator access on your site. It shows their selected notification preferences for all admin notifications. There should be at least one administrator receiving each type of message generated. Admin notifications are:
Overview of the admin notification types
Site administration -> Users -> Add user
You can add users to your site by creation accounts for them manually one by one.
Add a user manually
Note
You can only define the default account settings for a user account, but not force the user to keep them forever. You could only do that by customising the system on the code level.
Site administration -> Users -> Add users by CSV
You can use this function to upload new users in bulk via a CSV file (comma-separated file) and to update existing users. The first row of your CSV file should specify the format of your data. For example, it should look like this:
username,password,email,firstname,lastname,studentid
For new users, this row must include:
Note
If you want to update existing users, you do not need to set a password, but the password column must exist.
You can mix new and existing accounts in your CSV file.
It must also include fields that are mandatory for all users to fill out and any fields locked for the institution you are uploading the users for.
All other fields are optional. This is the full list of fields that you can add in addition in your CSV file upload.
Your CSV file could look for example like the following:
When you have created your CSV file, you are ready to upload it.
Add users by CSV file
Note
Depending on your server settings and / or the size of your installation, you may not be able to upload all user accounts at once. You may wish to upload them in bunches of 100 instead.
After an admin has successfully invited or added new members into an institution, he can change their authentication method. That can be useful if the authentication method differs from the one in the previous institution and the admin wants to link the new accounts to a remote username using:
Note
The change in the authentication method for existing accounts should be done before users try to log in with their new credentials to avoid the creation of a second account for that user.
You can change the authentication method for multiple users at once to save you time manually updating each user. Changing the authentication method usually also entails changing the remote username (a.k.a. username for external authentication). Therefore, these two are dealt with together to describe the work flow better.
Find users in an institution to change their remote username
User reports page
Update the CSV file with remote username and password
Update user accounts in bulk
Note
If you intend to update more than 100 users at the same time, you may run into problems and the server may reject your CSV file as the update process is a very memory intense one. If that is the case, you would have to split your CSV file into smaller ones with fewer users in them.
You can check that the accounts had their remote usernames added: