In a Support discussion titled “How to re-enable bootstrap mode?”, tophee explains they failed to increase bootstrap mode min users before hitting the default of 50, and after setting it to 100, new users still received TL0 instead of TL1. pfaffman suggests manually enabling bootstrap mode via Rails console, which temporarily restores the bootstrap banner — but tophee confirms new users still get TL0. fefrei clarifies that the default trust level must also be manually set to 1, since bootstrap mode normally sets it automatically. tophee realizes bootstrap mode also auto-enables daily email digests for new users, making it more than just a trust level toggle. fefrei agrees but is unsure if bootstrap mode auto-resets settings upon hitting the user threshold. tophee concludes it’s better to avoid bootstrap mode entirely and manually set default trust level to 1, then revert to 0 when the community is ready — also noting that default email digest frequency must be manually managed. pfaffman confirms that while the shell method technically re-enables bootstrap mode, it doesn’t fully replicate expected behavior, validating tophee’s approach. The consensus leans toward manual configuration over relying on bootstrap mode for fine-grained control.
I failed to increase bootstrap mode min users before I reached the default of 50 users. I increased it to 100 and expected that that would automatically re-enable bootstrap mode until the new number of users is reached, but apparently this is not the case as new users are all TL0.
How can I re-enable bootstrap mode?
If you are self-hosting, I think this should work:
cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app
rails c
SiteSetting.bootstrap_mode_enabled=true
exit
exit
Hm, something is not working here. I followed these instructions and, indeed, the banner reminding me that we’re in bootstrap mode reappeared in the backend. But a new user that signed up a minute ago is nevertheless TL0…
I think you also need to manually bump the default trust level setting – on a new install in bootstrap mode, this setting actually has the non-default value of 1.
In that case, the only point in re-enabling bootstrap mode would be that it will automatically re-set the default trust level setting to 0 once the user count is reached? (Or will it?)
Update: I just realized that bootstrap mode also includes that new users receive daily summaries by default. So it takes care of that setting too.
I think so, but I’m not sure.
In retrospect, I actually think that the better solution is to
because
plus: you also need to manually set the default email digest frequency.
So, ultimately, the only thing that re-enabling bootstrapping mode in the shell will do is to rest these settings automatically when the user count is reached. So you might as well do that manually based on when you think the time is right.
Indeed. Though my suggestion will, in fact, reset Bootstrap mode, it won’t really do what one might think (including me, when I suggested it).