Restrict or Block Users: Group Changes, Account Bans, and IP Blacklisting
This article explains how to update a user's group, ban a user account, or ban a user's IP address through the Admin Dashboard.
All actions must be performed within the user’s profile.
You will find step-by-step instructions below, including screenshots to guide you.
1. Update a User’s User Group
Sometimes, you may need to change a user's group to modify their permissions, access levels, or roles.
To update a user's group:
- Go to the user's profile in the Admin Dashboard.
- Navigate to the Settings tab.
- Under You are..., select the new group from the dropdown list and save the changes.
- This will define the permissions and access rights the user will have upon their next login.
- After changing the group, it is mandatory to click "Force user logout" to apply the changes immediately.
- This will ensure that the user is disconnected and must log back in, loading the new permissions tied to their updated group.
2. Ban a User Account
To ban a user from accessing their account:
- Go to the user's profile in the Admin Dashboard.
- Navigate to the Settings tab.
- Under Account Authorization, select Banned from the dropdown list and save the changes.
- This will prevent the user from logging into their account.
- To immediately apply the ban, click the link "Force user logout".
- This will terminate any active sessions the user might have and apply the new ban status immediately.
3. Ban a User's IP Address
If you want to restrict access from a specific IP address associated with the user:
- Go to the user's profile in the Admin Dashboard.
- Navigate to the Activities tab.
- Locate the IP address you wish to ban (displayed in the list of login or activity records).
- Hover over the IP address, and a tooltip will appear.
- Click on "Blacklist this IP".
This will automatically add the IP address to the platform's blacklist, blocking any future access attempts from that IP.
Additional IP Management
- In the Admin Dashboard, you can view and manage all banned IP addresses manually by going to:
Settings > Security.
- In this section, you can:
- Review blacklisted IPs
- Remove IPs from the blacklist
- Document the ban reason
- Add new IPs manually for preventive restrictions.
Best Practices
- Always document why an account or IP was banned (e.g., in an admin only user attribute)
- Use account bans for behavioral issues (e.g., policy violations) and IP bans for technical/security issues (e.g., bot attacks, repeated abusive logins).
Updated on: 28/04/2025
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