This guide details how-to enable and configure anonymous mode in Discourse for users who want to post without revealing their identity.
Required user level: Administrator
Anonymous mode allows logged-in users to switch from their normal account to an anonymous account. This allows users to create topics and replies without any details being displayed in the Discourse user interface to connect the anonymous user with its associated account.
Enabling anonymous mode
For self-hosted sites, enable anonymous mode by selecting the allow anonymous posting
site setting.
For sites on our hosting, these settings are hidden. Please send a message to our support team at
team@discourse.org
, and we can enable anonymous posting on your site for you.
Configuring anonymous mode
Anonymous mode has two related site settings:
- The
anonymous posting allowed groups
site setting allows you to limit the use of the feature based on the userβs group membership. - The
anonymous account duration minutes
site setting sets the period of time that an anonymous account will remain in place after a user has entered and then exited anonymous mode.- This setting defaults to 10080 minutes (7 days.) With the default value for this setting, if a user exits anonymous mode and then re-enters it within 7 days, they will be logged back into their previous anonymous account. If the user waits longer than 7 days before re-entering anonymous mode, a new anonymous account will be created for them.
Finding an anonymous userβs regular account
While anonymous mode provides anonymity in the Discourse user interface, the Discourse database can still associate anonymous accounts with their regular user accounts. Use the following Data Explorer query to find the association:
SELECT a.username AS anonymous_username, u.username AS original_username
FROM users u
JOIN anonymous_users au ON (u.id = au.master_user_id)
JOIN users a ON (a.id = au.user_id)
Last edited by @hugh 2024-08-02T05:03:50Z
Last checked by @hugh 2024-08-02T05:03:53Z
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