Manage user access: suspension, deactivation, identity verification, and reputation

myTurn provides several ways to manage a user's access and borrowing requirements. Choose the option that matches the situation. These settings apply to the user's relationship with your organization.

Available controls depend on your organization's configuration and your admin privileges.

Choose an option

• Suspend a user to stop new borrowing while keeping their membership and allowing them to log in and return items.
• Deactivate a membership when the user no longer needs an active membership, but may rejoin later.
• Use identity verification to confirm that a user has met your organization's identity requirements.
• Use reputation levels (closed beta) to track borrowing history and apply different borrowing value limits.
• Block a user only as a last resort when preventing login is necessary. Blocking is not recommended for routine borrowing restrictions.

Which users count toward your myTurn subscription?

Users do not count toward your myTurn subscription's user count if:

• Their membership is deactivated.
• Their membership has expired.
• They have been deleted.

You do not need to delete a user to remove them from your subscription's user count if their membership is already deactivated or expired.

Suspend a user

Use suspension when a user must stop borrowing or reserving items until an issue is resolved. For example, you may need to review a policy violation or discuss damaged items before allowing further borrowing.

A suspended user:

• Can still log in and return items, including through self-checkout.
• Cannot check out additional items or renew their own loans.
• Cannot place new reservations.
• Keeps their current membership type.
• Cannot buy or switch membership types themselves.

Suspension does not pause the membership. The expiration date continues to run and the user will continue to be automatically renewed as long as they have your items. Removing the suspension does not add time to the membership. 

Admins can still manage the user's membership, including renewing, extending, changing, or deactivating it. Automatic membership renewal continues while the suspended user has items on loan. If the user has nothing on loan, automatic renewal and its advance notice are skipped and their membership will end at the end of the current period.

Authorized staff can renew the user's existing loans while the user is suspended, provided the membership otherwise allows renewal. Staff cannot override suspension to check out additional items.

Suspend or restore access

1. Open the user's account details.
2. Find the Suspended row and select Suspend User.
3. Review or update the warning note to explain the reason, then confirm the suspension.

When the issue is resolved, return to the same row and select Remove Suspension. Review the warning note so it reflects the current situation.

You must remove the user's admin privileges before suspending them. You must remove a suspension before granting admin privileges.

Deactivate a membership

Use deactivation when the user's membership should end, but the user may rejoin later. For example, a user may move away or stop using your organization.

Deactivation removes the active membership type. It retains the user account and history.

A deactivated user:

• Can still log in and return items.
• Cannot borrow or reserve items through the deactivated membership.
• Can purchase a membership to rejoin, subject to your normal requirements.
• Is hidden from admin users by default so they do not clutter the user list.

To deactivate a membership, open the user's membership management page and choose Deactivate.

Use suspension if the user must not regain borrowing access by purchasing another membership.

Verify a user's identity

Use identity verification when you need to confirm who a user is before they borrow. For example, your organization may require staff to check identification during registration.

Verification records that the user has met an identity requirement. It does not suspend the user or record their borrowing behavior.

Depending on your configuration, users can complete verification through an online provider, or staff can verify their identity in person. When manual verification is available, use Manually Verify Identity in the user's Identity Verification section after completing your identity check.

If verification is required, an unverified member must normally complete it before borrowing. Authorized staff can make an explicit checkout override. That override does not mark the user's identity as verified.

Verified identity does not remove a suspension or satisfy other borrowing requirements. Use suspension for a borrowing restriction that must remain in place regardless of identity status.

Use reputation levels (closed beta)

Reputation is currently available in closed beta.

Use reputation when you want borrowing history to inform borrowing value limits. For example, you may offer a higher value limit to users with a history of on-time returns.

When reputation is enabled, the standard levels are:

• Member: The starting level.
• Trusted: A level users can earn through positive borrowing history.
• Rebuilding Trust: A level for users rebuilding their history after a demotion from Trusted, or following an admin adjustment.

Level names may differ if your organization has customized the displayed text.

On-time and late returns can affect reputation according to your settings. Admins can review reputation history and make adjustments.

Membership types can have different borrowing value limits for each reputation level. These limits can prevent a member from submitting a reservation that exceeds the limit. Admin borrowing workflows display value-limit warnings rather than enforcing a complete borrowing block.

A reputation level does not prevent login or suspend a user. Use suspension when all new borrowing must stop.

Block a user: last resort

Blocking prevents the user from logging in to your organization's myTurn site. Blocking is not recommended for routine account management.

Use blocking only as a last resort when preventing login is necessary, such as a serious case of account misuse. Consider whether suspension meets your needs first.

A blocked user cannot use logged-in account features to review their account or manage returns themselves. Staff may need to help the user resolve outstanding loans or account issues.

For overdue items, damaged items, or a policy issue that requires a borrowing restriction, suspension is usually the better choice. It stops new borrowing while preserving login and return access.

Comparison chart

The table below compares the options for readers on wider screens. The sections above provide the details in a format suited to smaller screens.