Anonymous posting for sensitive subjects

AI-generated summary

The discussion is about implementing anonymous posting on a community forum for sensitive subjects. virginie.lehmann requested the feature, and Stephen replied that Discourse already includes a setting to allow users to post in anonymous mode, located in /admin/site_settings/category/users. However, virginie.lehmann and andrewnchen couldn’t find the setting. codinghorror explained that the setting is hidden on hosted sites to prevent accidental enabling.

After contacting support, the feature was enabled for chaddyer and andrewnchen. jomaxro clarified that the setting is hidden, but users can still post anonymously by switching to anonymous mode using the spy icon in the user menu. jomaxro also explained that while site admins can’t easily identify anonymous users, it is possible with some effort.

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So, we are building a community for managers. Thus, some subjects might get sensitive. We really need to have the option to have anonymous posting – a registered member could choose to be anonymous when posting a question or answering one. Is this a possibility?

Thanks!
Virginie

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Hi Virginie ,

Did you use the search? Discourse already includes a setting to allow users to post in anonymous mode.

It’s under /admin/site_settings/category/users

You can search your site settings from /admin/site_settings and using the filter field at the top.

There are lots of topics already discussing anonymous posting too:

If the current implementation doesn’t work for you then maybe you could elaborate further?

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Hi @Stephen ,
Thanks! This is exactly what I’m looking for but I can’t seem to find it… :woman_facepalming:

Do all version have the setting?

Thanks!

It has been in for a couple of years, and is part of the standard install. If you’re a hosted customer it might be worth opening a ticket.

Sorry @virginie.lehmann this is our bad. We do hide this setting on our hosting as people were enabling it accidentally and getting into trouble. @HAWK can get you sorted.

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I replied to your PM earlier @virginie.lehmann – let me know if you have further issues getting this sorted!

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Hey there,

I’m also not seeing the option in site settings to allow anonymous logins. Could you help me get this enabled on my forum?

Thanks!

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Hey Andrew, we sent you a PM as you’re a customer of ours. We’ll continue discussion there.

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can i please get this enabled? thanks!

Sue, @jomaxro can assist with this request. It is a little quicker if you use the email address provided on your admin dashboard to contact us.

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All set, enabled for your site.

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thank you! I don’t see the setting in admin, am I looking in the wrong place?

The setting is hidden on our hosted sites - you won’t see it. I have turned it on, however, so trust level 1+ users will now be able to use it.

thanks! dumb question: how do I make a post anonymous?

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To post anonymously, you must switch to anonymous mode. Click the spy icon in the user menu:

When done, you can exit anonymous mode the same way.

aaah thank you i thought it was a per-post option.
followup question: how anonymous is it on a hosted plan? can site admins see who did what in anonymous mode?

If an admin really wanted to identify a user, they likely could, hosted plan or not. Not easy or simple to do, but possible. Through normal operation, however, admins will not know who the anonymous user is.

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