The discussion revolves around the implications of enabling the “must approve users” option in a Discourse forum. Pad_Pors asks whether enabling this setting revokes access for previously registered members. watchmanmonitor suggests that users may need to be manually approved after enabling the option. codinghorror clarifies that existing users are not automatically revoked but are left in an indeterminate approval state, meaning they can still access the site but appear unapproved. It’s noted that this setting should not be changed mid-lifecycle to avoid confusion. Pad_Pors confirms understanding and decides to explore alternative solutions. DNSTARS later asks whether deactivated users are affected by the “big revocation” button, indicating ongoing concerns about user access management.
i want to be sure if one enable this option, would it break the access of previous members or not?
Without testing, I’d guess that when you enable “must approve users”, you’ll need to go approve everyone with the button which shows up.
No you do not need to do this. However switching this on later in the life of a site leaves earlier users in an indeterminate state – were they approved to access your site, or not?
somehow, i missed this answer. thanks for the answer.
just to be sure; this means, if in our live forum i activate the “must approve users”; it does not delete previous user’s access to our site (previous sign ups). is it correct?
what will happen to those users then?
in our invite-only forum, we need a request an invitation button. and i guess this option can do the job. is it correct?
The old users will have an indeterminate approval state. They can still get in, but they will “look” unapproved to you. If you approve them, they will all get a redundant email.
It is generally a bad idea to change this setting during the life of a site.
thanks for the information 
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and sure we’ll look for another way.
Apologies for the superman necro but didn’t see anything more recent.
Has this behavior changed since last comment and does anyone know how this affects accounts that were active, and then deactivated before the big revocation button is pushed?
