# Ban members from certain categories? **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/ban-members-from-certain-categories/62916 **Category:** Feature **Created:** [May 18, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ban-members-from-certain-categories/62916 "2017-05-18T03:57:09Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 5
### Author: ![Iceman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/iceman/32/181309_2.png) [@Iceman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Iceman) #### Post date: [November 18, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ban-members-from-certain-categories/62916/5 "2021-11-18T13:50:39Z")
Sorry for the Necromancy, but this is the top result while searching and other topics (linked below) are either closed or not as clear when it comes to the question. Following the logic exposed here and in similar topics, it seems that the best way is to add “everyone” to a certain group and then remove from said group the users that you want “banned” from a category, since [we don’t have an option to remove “see” permission from groups, only add](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-cant-see-logic-to-category-permissions/113456). This seems fairly logical, but let’s say that your instance has 5k users, do you have to add them all by hand? And keep updating it whenever a new user joins? I’m not certain if there is any “cheatcode” like “[@everyone](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/everyone)” when adding users to a group, doesn’t seem like it. Is there a better way and I missed it? Thanks. Other related topics: > [@Can I make some Topics in a Category which only certain Groups can see and participate in?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-make-some-topics-in-a-category-which-only-certain-groups-can-see-and-participate-in/142906): > > Is this possible? I have searched for the answer to this and I have decided that this is ‘likely’ not possible right now but I want to be sure. Could it be done with a simple plugin (vs a complex plugin that only an expert could write)? I do not want to make a Category which only certain Groups can see and participate in. Also, a PM is not what I am looking for. > [@New category permission - "cannot see"/"exclude"](https://meta.discourse.org/t/new-category-permission-cannot-see-exclude/50044): > > Continuing the discussion from [Suspend as way to expire membership](https://meta.discourse.org/t/suspend-as-way-to-expire-membership/49955/3): After suggesting to another user that instead of suspending a user they could put them in a group and change category permissions. I recently came across my own use case for this, where I needed to add some users to my instance and only give them access to one category. It does not seem like there is an easy way to do so, without modifying the permissions for every other category, and putting all other users in their own grou… > [@Negative group permissions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/negative-group-permissions/79576): > > Does anyone have any ideas, tips or tricks how to exclude members from a specific group from accessing a specific category? What would be the easiest way to accomplish that? > [@Understanding groups and category permissions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-create-private-categories-using-category-security-settings/87678): > > bookmark This guide explains how to manage category visibility and user permissions using groups in Discourse. person_raising_hand Required user level: Administrator Groups and category permissions are crucial for managing access and content creation within your Discourse community. This guide will help you understand how to use these features effectively. Summary Category permissions control visibility and user actions Permissions are managed through group access lists Different perm… --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ban-members-from-certain-categories/62916)._