Delete User

This guide explains how to delete user accounts on your Varbase site, including the options for handling content associated with the deleted account.

Steps to Delete a User

1. Navigate to the People page.

   • Go to People in the admin navigation sidebar, or navigate to /admin/people.

2. Find the user account.

   • Use the filters to search by name, email, role, or status.

   • Click Edit in the operations column next to the user you want to delete.

3. Delete the account.

   • On the user edit page, click the Cancel account button (usually located at the bottom of the form).

4. Choose how to handle the user's content.

   When canceling a user account, you are presented with several options for handling the content created by that user:

   • Disable the account and keep its content.: The account is blocked but not removed. All content remains published and attributed to the user. This is the safest option.

   • Disable the account and unpublish its content.: The account is blocked, and all content authored by the user is unpublished (set to Draft or unpublished state).

   • Delete the account and make its content belong to the anonymous user.: The account is permanently deleted. Content is preserved but its author is changed to "Anonymous."

   • Delete the account and its content.: The account and all content created by the user are permanently deleted. Use this option with extreme caution.

5. Confirm the deletion.

   • Select the appropriate option.

   • Optionally check the Require email confirmation option to send a confirmation email to the user before the account is canceled.

   • Click Confirm to proceed.

Bulk Account Cancellation

You can also cancel multiple accounts at once:

1. Navigate to People (/admin/people).

2. Select the checkboxes next to the user accounts you want to cancel.

3. Choose Cancel the selected user accounts from the Action dropdown.

4. Click Apply to selected items.

5. Choose the content handling option and confirm.

Important Considerations

• Deletion is permanent. Once a user account is deleted, it cannot be recovered. Consider blocking the account instead if you may need it in the future.

• Content impact. Deleting an account can affect site content. Carefully consider which content handling option is appropriate before proceeding.

• Administrator accounts. Be extremely cautious when deleting administrator accounts. Ensure at least one active administrator account remains.

• Permissions. Only users with the "Administer users" permission can delete accounts. Typically, only Site Admins and Administrators have this permission.

Tips

• Prefer blocking over deletion. In most cases, blocking a user account is safer than deleting it. A blocked account can be reactivated later, and its content remains intact.

• Review content first. Before deleting an account and its content, review what the user has created to ensure nothing important is lost.

• Reassign content. If you want to keep the content but remove the account, choose the option to reassign content to the anonymous user or manually reassign it to another user before deletion.

• Document the action. Keep a record of account deletions for auditing and compliance purposes.