Is there an option to prevent all posts or turn login off?

Product Support

AI-generated summary

In a support discussion titled “Is there an option to prevent all posts or turn login off?”, jamesmarkcook sought a quick way to halt all activity on a Discourse instance during migration. cpradio advised using read-only mode, located under Admin > Backups, not Settings — a detail jamesmarkcook appreciated. codinghorror suggested making read-only mode accessible via Site Settings for better usability and proposed assigning the task to blake, who later confirmed a commit was pushed to implement this feature here. However, tobiaseigen later asked if the setting was available as a site setting — blake clarified it still resides only under /admin/backups and noted that enabling read-only mode would also disable email functionality. For tobiaseigen, who wanted to preserve email group inboxes while blocking logins, blake recommended adjusting category settings to disable posting while keeping email active — though tobiaseigen opted to simply inform users not to log in, given the site’s small size. The thread highlights a gap in UX (read-only mode not being in Site Settings) and a workaround for partial site lockdowns during migration.

1

I need to stop all activity on a Discourse instance in order to transfer everything over to a new instance. Any setting to do this quickly?

2

You can set it to read-only mode, that is a setting in the Admin Area (IIRC)

3

Muchos Gracias Senor

4

It is actually in the Admin > Backups area, not the Settings area.

5

That’s why I couldn’t find it! :smiley:

6

This is a good point, @zogstrip I think read only mode should also be available from the site settings, not just in the backup area..

7

Perhaps I can add this to @blake’s plate? We should have a site setting for this that works the same as the backup page button..

9

I pushed a commit for this:
https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/2ffddfb32cd68ed749bdc6a59fe94b843b52e717

10

I was just looking for but not finding this setting. Does it exist as an admin setting now?

My use case is that I’d like to move my site and in the interim want to be able to keep using the old instance for email group inboxes but not allow people to log in for the moment. Not sure how to do this.

11

Nope. It’s not a site setting. Enable read-only is still under /admin/backups.

But email wouldn’t work either. You will have to configure category settings to disable postings if you still want to allow email for group inboxes, but not allow posting.

12

Thanks! This is a small site so I guess I will just tell people not to log in.