# What user characteristics (e.g. trust level) does the "anonymous" user inherit?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-user-characteristics-e-g-trust-level-does-the-anonymous-user-inherit/210452
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [November 29, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-user-characteristics-e-g-trust-level-does-the-anonymous-user-inherit/210452 "2021-11-29T21:09:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Jonathan5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jonathan5/32/197134_2.png) [@Jonathan5](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jonathan5)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-user-characteristics-e-g-trust-level-does-the-anonymous-user-inherit/210452/1 "2021-11-29T21:09:40Z")

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I think I can see that the ability to view restricted categories disappears when a user enters anonymous mode (see [Anonymous posting -- but retaining original user permissions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/anonymous-posting-but-retaining-original-user-permissions/47247)) but is there any similarity between the two users? What about trust level?

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### Author: ![awesomerobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/awesomerobot/32/142900_2.png) [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-user-characteristics-e-g-trust-level-does-the-anonymous-user-inherit/210452/4 "2021-11-29T21:50:21Z")

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The trust level for anonymous users is locked at TL1, but I believe an admin can manually change this for specific anonymous accounts from the anon user’s admin page.

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### Author: ![Jonathan5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jonathan5/32/197134_2.png) [@Jonathan5](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jonathan5)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-user-characteristics-e-g-trust-level-does-the-anonymous-user-inherit/210452/5 "2021-12-02T11:11:11Z")

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In summary, I think the anonymous/shadow user is a brand new TL1 user and does not inherit the actual user’s groups (hence preferences) or trust level.

It would be good if it could inherit these characteristics. But the way it’s structured, I can see that it would cause extra work (eg keeping group membership of multiple users in sync).