Introduction
In this help article, we’ll explain how visitors become users on your website, the user management interface, and how you can manage your users, including how to remove the personal data of inactive users. We’ll also highlight the importance of growing your user base.
Why Having Registered Users Is Important
One of the most effective ways to increase engagement on your news website is by encouraging visitors to register as users. Registered users can actively participate by posting comments, and these comments can be liked by other visitors or users.
A unique feature of Newsifier is that when someone likes a user’s comment or replies to a comment, the user receives a real-time notification inside the website. This continuous feedback loop encourages users to return to the website whenever their comments receive likes or interactions.
Building a community of registered users who interact with each other boosts the overall engagement and activity on your site, making it a vital strategy for driving repeat visits to your website and grow your traffic.
💡Tip: Encourage visitors to join the discussion by asking them to leave a comment at the end of your article. This can help increase user registrations on your website.
Take a look how to Manage Visitors Comments.
Becoming a User on Your Website
Visitors to your website can become users in two main ways:
Commenting: When a visitor tries to comment on an article, they will be prompted to create an account to become a user, as only registered users are allowed to post comments on your site.
Registration via Icon in the header: Visitors can also create an account by clicking the user icon. From there, they can either register as a new user or log in if they are already registered. There are several methods to register which we explain below.
📌Note: You can also open the registration form directly via a URL by adding ?auth=register to your website address, for example: https://www.yourwebsite.com/?auth=register. This is useful when you want to link visitors straight to the registration form, for example from a newsletter, a social media post, a banner or a button in an article.
Once a visitor has registered, they:
Can post comments
Receive real-time notifications when their comments get a reply or are liked
Can use features that are only available for logged-in users
Registering via Social Media or Email
Users can use different register methods, depending on the options you've set up in your website's settings. These include:
Facebook: Allows users to register with their Facebook account. Refer to this help article for a step-by-step guide.
Google: Users can use their Google account for registration.
Apple: If your website has an iOS mobile app, users can register with their Apple ID.
Email: This is the default method for user registration. Users enter their username, email, and password to create an account.
You can configure these options in your CMS under Settings to enable social media logins for faster, easier registration.
💡Tip: Activate Google One Tap login to increase the number of registered visitor of your website, Learn How to Set Up Google Login .
Viewing and Managing Registered Users
Once visitors have registered and become users, you can view and manage them from the Users Overview page.
Navigate to the Users section from the left-hand menu to access this page
In the Users Overview page, you will see a list of all registered users, which includes:
Name: The name they used to register.
Username: The unique username they selected.
Joined Date: The date the user registered.
Last Login: The date they last logged into your website.
Login Method: How they registered (Email, Facebook, Google, Apple).
Registration IP: The IP address used when the user account was created.
Last login IP: The IP address used for the recent successful login.
Status: Whether the user is active, inactive, or banned.
Hint: Registration IP and Last login IP can support basic security checks—such as spotting repeated sign-ups from the same IP address or unusual login patterns.
Exporting Users
You can export user data by clicking the Export button next to the search field.
If no filters are applied, all users will be included in the export.
If you've applied filters (e.g., filtering by role or status), only the users matching those criteria will be exported.
Creating a New User Manually
If needed, you can manually create new users by clicking the blue New User button in the Users Overview page. You will need to enter the following information:
Email
Name
Username
Password
Status: Set whether the user is active, inactive, or banned.
Internal Notes: This field is used for internal notes only and is visible exclusively in the Newsifier admin panel. It will not appear on the frontend and is never shown to users or readers.
This feature is useful for managing team members, contributors, or adding users who may not register themselves directly.
📌Note: Only an Admin can change a user's role to add them to the staff. Other roles do not have the permission to modify user roles.
Understanding User Status
In Newsifier, the status of a user determines their level of access and ability to interact with your website. Here’s an overview of the different statuses a user can have and what they mean:
New: When someone registers, their account starts as New. If Hide Comments of New Users is enabled in your moderation settings, their comments are only visible to moderators and to the user themselves until a moderator approves one of them.
You can also set an account back to New manually, for example for a suspected duplicate account. From their next comment on, the account is treated like a newly registered one again. Comments that were already visible stay visible.
Active: A user becomes Active when a moderator approves one of their comments. Their other comments that were waiting for approval as a new user are published at the same time. Comments held for forbidden words or flags are not published automatically and need their own approval. Active users can fully interact with your website—this includes logging in, posting comments, interacting with comments, and receiving notifications for comment interactions.
💡Tip: To keep holding comments from a user you set back to New, leave their comments waiting or delete them instead of approving them. Approving any one of their comments makes the account Active again.
Inactive: Users with an Inactive status are unable to log into the system. This status can be set manually by your team via the admin panel, particularly if a user needs to be temporarily restricted from accessing their account.
Imported: The Imported status applies to users whose data has been imported from an external system.
Temporarily Banned: A Temporarily Banned user is blocked from logging into the front-end of the website. This status can be applied by your team either from the Users Overview page or from the Moderation > Comments section. Temporarily banned users will remain restricted until their status is changed back to New or Active.
Shadow Banned: Users with a Shadow Banned status can log into the website but are unable to post comments. This status is often used when a user’s comments need to be restricted without notifying them directly. Your team can apply the shadow ban from the Users Overview page or during the moderation of comments. Users with this status remain restricted until their status is changed back to New or Active from the admin panel.
Permanently Banned: A Permanently Banned user is blocked from logging into the front-end of the website. This status can be applied by your team either from the Users Overview page or from the Moderation > Comments section. Permanently banned users will remain restricted until their status is changed back to New or Active.
Deleted: The user’s personal data has been removed by your team. They can no longer log in and appear on your website as anonymous-[ID]. Their comments stay visible. See Removing Personal Data of Inactive Users below.
💡Tip: These user statuses help you manage interactions on your website, ensuring that user engagement is appropriate and aligned with your community standards. Your staff have the flexibility to adjust these statuses from the admin panel, providing control over who can access and interact with your website.
Removing Personal Data of Inactive Users
Under GDPR, you shouldn’t keep personal data for longer than you need it. Newsifier lets you find users who haven’t logged in for a long time and permanently remove their personal data, while their comments stay on your website.
Newsifier never removes data automatically. You decide when a user counts as inactive and which accounts to clean up.
📌 Note: “Inactive” here means a user who hasn’t logged in for a long time. This is different from the Inactive status described above, which blocks a user from logging in.
Finding Inactive Users
Go to the Users Overview page.
Open the filter and choose one of the following options:
Not logged in for 12 months
Not logged in for 24 months
Not logged in for 36 months
The list now shows only the users who haven’t logged in during that period.
Good to know:
Users who never logged in are counted from the date they registered.
Users who were active in your mobile app during that period are not listed as inactive, even if they haven’t logged in on the website.
Removing Their Personal Data
Select the users you want to clean up using the checkboxes, or click Select all to select every user on the current page.
Open the bulk actions menu and choose Remove personal data.
Read the confirmation message and click Yes to confirm.
What Happens When You Remove Personal Data
The following is permanently removed from the user’s account:
Name and email address
Password and login access (the user can no longer log in)
Date of birth, address and bio
Profile photo
Social login connections (Facebook, Google, Apple)
Device details used for push notifications
IP addresses (Registration IP, Last login IP and IP activity)
The username is replaced with anonymous-[ID] and the status changes to Deleted.
The user’s comments stay on your website and are shown under the name anonymous-[ID].
⚠️ Important: This action cannot be undone. Once removed, the personal data can’t be restored.
Accounts That Are Skipped
To protect active accounts, Newsifier skips the following, even if you selected them:
Staff accounts (for example admins and editors)
Users who logged in during the last 12 months
Skipped accounts keep all their data.
Keeping a Record
Every removal is recorded in User Logs, showing which admin removed the data and when. Learn more in Managing User Logs in Newsifier.
Summary
By encouraging visitors to register as users, providing multiple registration options, and fostering interaction through comments and likes, you can build a vibrant community around your news website. For more information on banning users and moderation, please refer to our Moderation Help Article.