This article describes how to manage your user records via the Manage Users page to accomplish the following:
- Search for users
- Manage the list page's columns (add, remove, sort) to view and access user records
- Filter the list of users
- Edit user accounts
- Export the list of user records
📝 NOTE: Creating, deleting, and spoofing user accounts are also possible on the Manage Users page, but those actions are discussed in their respective articles.
Before we begin…
To use the new features discussed in this article, you must first enable them via the Dashboard > Settings > Addons > Labs page. From here, scroll to the bottom of the page and enable the New User Management toggle.
Access the Manage Users page
- Access the Dashboard.
- Navigate to Moderation > Users > Manage Users.
Search for users
Use the search bar at the top of the page to locate users based on their user name or email address.
- The number of characters entered determines the scope of the results (broad or narrow). As you can see below, "john" returns all users with "john" in their user name.
- Be more exact (i.e., "johnny" or "johnnie") for a narrow set of results or vague (i.e., "jo") for a broad set of results.
- The number of results is displayed below the search field.
- Click the (X) to clear your search and restore the full list.
Shareable URLs
Search queries are appended to the page's URL, making it easy to share a search with another user.
Page selection
If your Vanilla community has a lot of users, or your search results include numerous users, use the page selection options at the top right to navigate to subsequent pages of users/results.
- Click the < or > buttons to navigate a single page at a time.
- Click —>| to jump to a specific page.
Manage list columns
Click the Column Display Settings icon to manage which data columns display in the list, allowing you to view more or fewer details about your users.
📝 NOTE: Changes you make to the columns are saved between your sessions, meaning they'll persist even when logging out and back in.
In the dialog, you can perform the following actions:
- Click the Add Columns dropdown to view all available columns you can add, including custom profile fields.
- Drag and drop columns to re-arrange their order in the list. Top-to-bottom in the dialog equates to left-to-right in the list.
- Click Hide to retain the column in the dialog but hide it in the list. This is a great way to temporarily hide columns you know you'll want to use again.
- Click the trashcan icon to remove the column. This makes it available in the Add Columns dropdown once again.
- Click Reset to Default to reset the columns to the default view.
- Click Apply to apply any changes you make, or Cancel to close the dialog without saving your changes.
Sort columns
By default, the list is sorted by username, from A to Z. To find users, you can click the Username, First Visit, and Last Visit columns to sort them.
- Username: Sort users by alphabetical order, from A to Z or Z to A.
- First Visit: Sort users by first visit, from either most recent to least recent.
- Last Visit: Sort users by last visit, from either most recent to least recent.
Filter the list
The Filter icon displays above the list.
Click this button to display the Filters dialog, where you can apply one or more filters to streamline the list of users:
- Roles: Filter users based on their assigned Role(s). You can select one or more Roles, from the default Roles to any custom Roles you've created.
- First Visit / Last Visit: Use the From and To date pickers to define a time period filtering users based on their first login and/or last login to your community.
📝 NOTE: You don't have to enter both a From and To date in these fields. For example, if you wanted to see all users who haven’t been active in six months or more, just set the Last Visit To date six months prior to your current date. If you wanted to see everyone who first visited your community in 2023, set 2023-01-01 as the First Visit From date (no To date) and you'll only see users from January 1st until today.
- IP Address: Locate a specific user by filtering via their IP address.
- Ranks: Filter users based on their associated Rank(s). You can select one or more ranks, from the default Roles to any custom Roles you've created.
- Profile fields: Listed at the bottom of the dialog are your Vanilla community's custom Profile Fields. Users who have completed these fields on their profiles can be filtered using them.
📝 NOTE: Filters are not preserved across sessions; they are removed, and the list's default view is restored, when you log out of the session.
Manage applied filters
Applied filters are indicated by the icon highlighted below.
- To clear applied filters, click the (x) OR display the Filters dialog again; from there, you can manage individual filters or click Clear All at the bottom left.
Edit user accounts
As an admin, you can edit several aspects of a user's account.
- Click the pencil icon to open the Edit User dialog.
📝 NOTE: The default fields always display. Other, optional fields that have been added in your account, will also display. (These are not shown below.)
On this dialog, you can:
- Update their username
- Update their email address and manage their email confirmation and "Verified User" settings
- Update their account password by:
- forcing the user to reset their password (they're notified via an email notification)
- manually setting a new password for the user (this does not send an email notification, so you should inform the user of the change)
- Set privacy settings for their email and/or profile (whether they display publicly or not)
- Assign/remove Roles and Ranks to/from the user
- Ban the user
- Update any available profile fields
Export the user list
There are numerous reasons why you may want to export a list of users from your Vanilla community, such as targeting a specific group of users for an email campaign or reaching out to users who haven't logged in for a certain length of time.
Export the list
🛑 IMPORTANT: You must belong to a Role with the Garden > Exports > Manage permission to be able to export user data.
Select Export User Data from the ellipsis (…) menu to begin exporting a CSV file.
- The location and name of this file will depend on your browser settings.
Notes about exporting
- You must remain on the Manage Users page while an export is processing; navigating away from the page will cancel the export.
- Your active columns, filters, and search are respected when exporting, enabling you to export the exact data you need.
- Column sorting is not respected. This is done intentionally because it is recommended to sort the data in the CSV file.
