User Management

The user management system provides powerful tools for searching, editing, and administering forum users.

User Search

The admin panel offers comprehensive user search capabilities with multiple filter options.

Search Criteria

Basic Information

Username: Search by username (max 190 characters)
Email: Search by email address
Title: Custom user title
Real name: User’s real name field

Profile Information

Gender: Filter by gender (Not displayed, Male, Female)
Website: User’s website URL
Social profiles: 5 social network profile fields
Location: User location (max 30 characters)
Signature: Search in user signatures

Activity Metrics

Post count: Range-based post count filter
Last post: Date range for last post
Last visit: Date range for last visit
Registration date: Date range for registration
Drafts: Number of saved drafts

Administrative

Admin note: Private admin notes about users
User group: Filter by group membership

Users/View.php:173

protected function form(array $data): array
{
    $form = [
        'action' => $this->c->Router->link('AdminUsers'),
        'hidden' => [
            'token' => $this->c->Csrf->create('AdminUsers'),
        ],
        'sets'   => [],
        'btns'   => [
            'search' => [
                'type'  => 'submit',
                'value' => __('Submit search'),
            ],
        ],
    ];
    
    // Add search fields...
    
    return $form;
}

Sorting Results

Search results can be sorted by:

'order_by' => [
    'username'   => __('Order by username'),
    'email'      => __('Order by e-mail'),
    'num_posts'  => __('Order by posts'),
    'last_post'  => __('Order by last post'),
    'last_visit' => __('Order by last visit'),
    'registered' => __('Order by registered'),
]

IP Address Search

IP address search requires the viewIP permission.

Administrators with IP viewing permissions can search for users by IP address:

Users/View.php:426

protected function formIP(array $data): array
{
    $form = [
        'action' => $this->c->Router->link('AdminUsers'),
        'hidden' => [
            'token' => $this->c->Csrf->create('AdminUsers'),
        ],
        'sets'   => [],
        'btns'   => [
            'find' => [
                'type'  => 'submit',
                'value' => __('Find IP address'),
            ],
        ],
    ];
    
    $fields['ip'] = [
        'type'      => 'text',
        'maxlength' => '49',
        'caption'   => 'IP address label',
        'required'  => true,
    ];
    
    return $form;
}

The IP search validates both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses:

Users/View.php:52

$ip = \filter_var($v->ip, \FILTER_VALIDATE_IP);

if (false === $ip) {
    $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, 'Bad IP message'];
}

The admin panel supports three main actions on selected users:

Available Actions

Ban Users
Delete Users
Change Group

Users.php:20

const ACTION_BAN = 'ban';

Ban users from accessing the forum. Checks:

User is not already banned
Current admin has permission to ban the target user
Admins and moderators cannot be banned

Users.php:104

case self::ACTION_BAN:
    if ($this->c->bans->banFromName($user->username) > 0) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_INFO, ['User is ban', $user->username]];
        return false;
    }
    
    if (! $this->userRules->canBanUser($user)) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, ['You are not allowed to ban the %s', $user->username]];
        
        if ($user->isAdmMod) {
            $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_INFO, 'No ban admins message'];
        }
        
        return false;
    }
    break;

Users.php:21

const ACTION_DEL = 'delete';

Permanently delete user accounts. Restrictions:

Admins and moderators cannot be deleted
Permission checks apply

Users.php:122

case self::ACTION_DEL:
    if (! $this->userRules->canDeleteUser($user)) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, ['You are not allowed to delete the %s', $user->username]];
        
        if ($user->isAdmMod) {
            $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_INFO, 'No delete admins message'];
        }
        
        return false;
    }
    break;

Users.php:22

const ACTION_CHG = 'change_group';

Move users to different user groups:

Administrators cannot have their group changed
Users cannot change their own group

Users.php:134

case self::ACTION_CHG:
    if (! $this->userRules->canChangeGroup($user, $profile)) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, ['You are not allowed to change group for %s', $user->username]];
        
        if ($user->isAdmin) {
            $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_INFO, 'No move admins message'];
        }
        
        return false;
    }
    break;

Action Validation

All bulk actions are validated before execution:

Users.php:82

protected function checkSelected(array $selected, string $action, bool $profile = false): array|false
{
    $selected = \array_map('\\intval', $selected);
    $bad      = \array_filter($selected, function ($value) {
        return $value < 1;
    });
    
    if (! empty($bad)) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, 'Action not available'];
        return false;
    }
    
    $userList = $this->c->users->loadByIds($selected);
    $result   = [];
    
    foreach ($userList as $user) {
        if (! $user instanceof User) {
            continue;
        }
        
        // Perform action-specific checks...
    }
    
    if (empty($result)) {
        $this->fIswev = [FORK_MESS_VLD, 'No users selected'];
        return false;
    }
    
    return $result;
}

User Promotion

Users can be promoted to different groups automatically based on post count or manually by administrators.

Manual Promotion

Administrators can manually promote users:

Users/Promote.php:21

public function promote(array $args, string $method): Page
{
    if (! $this->c->Csrf->verify($args['token'], 'AdminUserPromote', $args)) {
        return $this->c->Message->message($this->c->Csrf->getError());
    }
    
    $user = $this->c->users->load($args['uid']);
    
    if (0 < $user->g_promote_next_group * $user->g_promote_min_posts) {
        $user->group_id = $user->g_promote_next_group;
        $this->c->users->update($user);
    }
    
    return $this->c->Redirect->page('ViewPost', ['id' => $args['pid']])
        ->message('User promote redirect', FORK_MESS_SUCC);
}

Automatic Promotion

Configure automatic promotion in group settings:

Set target group (g_promote_next_group)
Define minimum post count (g_promote_min_posts)
System promotes users when criteria are met

Creating New Users

Only administrators can create new user accounts through the admin panel.

The admin panel provides a form for creating new users:

Users/View.php:147

protected function formNew(): array
{
    $form = [
        'action' => $this->c->Router->link('AdminUsers'),
        'hidden' => [],
        'sets'   => [
            'new' => [
                'legend' => 'New user',
                'fields' => [],
            ]
        ],
        'btns'   => [
            'new' => [
                'type'  => 'btn',
                'value' => __('Add'),
                'href'  => $this->c->Router->link('AdminUsersNew'),
            ],
        ],
    ];
    
    return $form;
}

Recalculating User Statistics

Post count recalculation should only be performed in maintenance mode.

Administrators can recalculate post and topic counts:

Users/View.php:460

public function recalculate(array $args, string $method): Page
{
    if (
        1 !== $this->c->config->b_maintenance
        || $this->c->MAINTENANCE_OFF
    ) {
        return $this->c->Message->message('Maintenance only');
    }
    
    // Verify confirmation and token...
    
    if (\function_exists('\\set_time_limit')) {
        \set_time_limit(0);
    }
    
    $this->c->users->updateCountPosts();
    $this->c->users->updateCountTopics();
    
    return $this->c->Redirect->page('AdminUsers')
        ->message('Updated the number of users posts redirect', FORK_MESS_SUCC);
}

Recalculation Form

Users/View.php:501

protected function formRecalculate(): array
{
    $form = [
        'action' => $this->c->Router->link('AdminUsersRecalculate'),
        'hidden' => [
            'token' => $this->c->Csrf->create('AdminUsersRecalculate'),
        ],
        'sets'   => [
            'recalculate' => [
                'legend' => 'Number of users posts',
                'fields' => [
                    'confirm' => [
                        'type'    => 'checkbox',
                        'label'   => 'Confirm action',
                        'checked' => false,
                    ],
                ],
            ],
        ],
        'btns'   => [
            'recalculate' => [
                'type'  => 'submit',
                'value' => __('Recalculate'),
            ],
        ],
    ];
    
    return $form;
}

Group Filtering

Filter users by group membership:

Users/View.php:23

protected function groups(bool $onlyKeys = false): array
{
    $groups = [
        -1 => __('All groups'),
        0  => __('Unverified users'),
    ];
    
    foreach ($this->c->groups->repository as $group) {
        if (! $group->groupGuest) {
            $groups[$group->g_id] = $group->g_title;
        }
    }
    
    return $onlyKeys ? \array_keys($groups) : $groups;
}

Data Encoding/Decoding

Search filters are encoded for URL transmission:

Users.php:37

protected function encodeData(string|array $data): string
{
    if (\is_array($data)) {
        unset($data['token']);
        
        $data = \base64_encode(\json_encode($data, FORK_JSON_ENCODE));
        $hash = $this->c->Secury->hash($data);
        
        return "{$data}:{$hash}";
    } else {
        return "ip:{$data}";
    }
}

protected function decodeData(string $data): array|false
{
    $data = \explode(':', $data);
    
    if (2 !== \count($data)) {
        return false;
    }
    
    if ('ip' === $data[0]) {
        $ip = \filter_var($data[1], \FILTER_VALIDATE_IP);
        return false === $ip ? false : ['ip' => $ip];
    }
    
    if (
        ! \hash_equals($data[1], $this->c->Secury->hash($data[0]))
        || ! \is_array($data = \json_decode(\base64_decode($data[0], true), true))
    ) {
        return false;
    }
    
    return $data;
}

Best Practices

User Management Tips:

Always verify permissions before performing actions
Use IP search cautiously - multiple users may share IPs
Enable maintenance mode before recalculating statistics
Test search filters with small datasets first
Document admin notes for future reference

Next Steps

Forum Management

Manage forums and categories

Permissions

Configure user and group permissions

User Groups

Learn about user group models

Bans

Manage banned users

​User Search

​Search Criteria

​Search Form Implementation

​Sorting Results

​IP Address Search

​User Actions

​Available Actions

​Action Validation

​User Promotion

​Manual Promotion

​Automatic Promotion

​Creating New Users

​Recalculating User Statistics

​Recalculation Form

​Group Filtering

​Data Encoding/Decoding

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Forum Management

Permissions

User Groups

Bans

User Search

Search Criteria

Search Form Implementation

Sorting Results

IP Address Search

User Actions

Available Actions

Action Validation

User Promotion

Manual Promotion

Automatic Promotion

Creating New Users

Recalculating User Statistics

Recalculation Form

Group Filtering

Data Encoding/Decoding

Best Practices

Next Steps