User Functionality⚓︎
Users form an important part of core functionality, since all activities require a visitor to be logged in. Users are uniquely identified by their email address.
Administrators⚓︎
Admins are set using the backend server config. Each Confab instance can have one or more Admins. Admins have a higher level of privilege required to moderate comments and users. Read more about additional comment actions available to admins.
Anonymous Users⚓︎
To reduce the barrier to entry for new users, Confab allows guests to interact and create comments without having to login. This feature can be configured using the backend configuration.
An anonymous user is created and automatically logged in when a user first interacts with Confab by voting or creating a comment.
Configurable rate limits are applied to anonymous user account creation. Furthermore, a CAPTCHA can be enabled for anonymous account creations for an IP beyond a certain threshold. See abuse mitigation for more information.
Anonymous users do not have the ability to set custom usernames or receive reply notifications, as such, the UI encourages them to login to receive these features. When an anonymous user logs in, any anonymous comments and votes they have made will be merged with their authenticated account.
Reply Notifications⚓︎
Reply notifications are enabled for users be default, where an email will be sent to them when someone replies to a comment they have left. This functionality can be disabled by the users themselves using the button on the bottom-left of the main Confab panel.
Additionally, this feature can be toggled off globally or for particular locations, using the Admin Panel. Anonymous users do not have the ability to receive reply notifications.
Bans⚓︎
Users can be banned by Admins. A banned user cannot login (will be informed at login that the provided email is banned), and will be rejected from performing all authenticated actions, including creating new comments, voting, editing, etc.
IP Address Bans⚓︎
Anonymous user bans would not be effective (as the user can simply create a new anonymous account). Instead, when a comment of an anonymous user is banned, the IP address that the account was created from is banned. This will ban all existing anonymous users that are created from that IP address, and will also prevent the creation of new anonymous accounts from that IP address. Unbanning an anonymous user will also unban their IP address.
Custom Usernames⚓︎
Users are able to set custom usernames (2-15 characters in length), by clicking on "Anonymous" or their existing username on the main Confab panel.
This feature can be disabled, and the cool-down duration can be customised using the backend configuration. Anonymous users are not able to set custom usernames.
Profile Pictures⚓︎
Users are assigned a randomly generated identicon which serves to identify their comments (independently of usernames). Confab does not provide the ability to set custom profile pictures.
Users Limitation
Confab currently does not have a central place to manage users, actions such as banning a user is only possible via a comment that a user has submitted. However this feature may be implemented in later versions. See the future roadmap.