Delete a User

Deleting a user is a critical operation that removes all personal data associated with that user from your school. This feature is designed to comply with GDPR and other data protection regulations.

Important: User deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. All personal data will be removed, and business entities will be transferred to the admin performing the deletion.

How User Deletion Works

When you delete a user, CourseLit performs two main operations:

  1. Business Entity Migration: Transfers ownership of courses, communities, email templates, and other business-critical resources to the admin performing the deletion
  2. Personal Data Cleanup: Permanently removes all personal data associated with the user

Prerequisites

To delete a user, you must have the Manage Users permission. Additionally:

  • You cannot delete yourself
  • You cannot delete the last user with critical permissions (like Manage Site, Manage Users, etc.)
  • The system ensures at least one admin remains with each critical permission

Deleting a User

  1. Navigate to the Users area from the dashboard

  2. Click on the user you want to delete to open their details

  3. Scroll down to the Danger zone and click on Delete user button

    Delete user

  4. Confirm the deletion when prompted

What Gets Migrated

The following business entities are transferred to the admin performing the deletion:

Courses & Content

  • Course Ownership: All courses created by the user
  • Lesson Ownership: All lessons created by the user
  • Page Ownership: All pages created by the user (course pages, blog pages, etc.)

Communities

  • Community Ownership: All communities created by the user
  • Community Posts: All posts created by the user in any community
  • Community Comments: All comments made by the user

Email Marketing

  • Email Templates: All email templates created by the user
  • Email Sequences: All email sequences (campaigns) created by the user
  • Broadcasts: All email broadcasts created by the user

Other Business Entities

  • Payment Plans: All payment plans created by the user
  • User Themes: All custom themes created by the user
  • User Segments: All user segments created by the user

What Gets Deleted

The following personal data is permanently removed:

User Account & Profile

  • User account and profile information
  • User avatar and media files
  • Authentication tokens and sessions

Activity & Engagement

  • Course enrollments and memberships
  • Lesson progress and evaluations
  • Download links generated for the user
  • Activity logs and analytics data
  • Notifications sent to the user

Community Participation

  • Community membership records
  • Community post subscriptions
  • Community reports filed by the user

Email & Communications

  • Email delivery records
  • Email event logs (opens, clicks, etc.)
  • Ongoing email sequences for the user
  • Mail request status records

Financial Records

  • Invoices associated with the user
  • Payment subscriptions (cancelled automatically)

Certificates

  • Certificates issued to the user

GDPR Compliance

This deletion process is designed to comply with GDPR Article 17 (Right to Erasure). When a user is deleted:

  • All personal data is permanently removed
  • Business entities are preserved to maintain system integrity
  • The operation is logged for audit purposes
  • Payment subscriptions are automatically cancelled

Safety Measures

CourseLit implements several safety measures to prevent accidental data loss:

  1. Permission Validation: Ensures at least one user retains each critical permission
  2. Self-Deletion Prevention: You cannot delete your own account
  3. Confirmation Required: Deletion requires explicit confirmation
  4. Atomic Operation: The entire deletion process succeeds or fails as a unit

After Deletion

After a user is deleted:

  • All their business entities (courses, communities, etc.) continue to function normally under the new owner
  • Students enrolled in their courses can continue learning
  • Community members can continue participating
  • Email sequences continue running for other users
  • The deleted user cannot log in anymore

Handling Subscription Cancellations

If the deleted user had active payment subscriptions:

  • All subscriptions are automatically cancelled
  • The payment provider (Stripe, PayPal, etc.) is notified
  • No further charges will occur
  • Refunds must be handled manually through your payment provider if needed

Best Practices

  1. Review Before Deletion: Check what content and entities the user owns before deleting
  2. Notify Stakeholders: If the user created important courses or communities, inform relevant team members
  3. Export Data First: If you need to retain any information for records, export it before deletion
  4. Handle Refunds: Process any necessary refunds through your payment provider before deletion
  5. Document the Action: Keep a record of why and when the user was deleted for compliance purposes

Troubleshooting

Cannot Delete User

If you encounter an error when trying to delete a user:

  • “Cannot delete last user with permission X”: This user is the last one with a critical permission. Assign this permission to another user first.
  • ”Action not allowed”: You don’t have the Manage Users permission.
  • ”User not found”: The user may have already been deleted or doesn’t exist.

Subscription Cancellation Failed

If a subscription fails to cancel:

  1. Note the subscription ID from the error message
  2. Manually cancel the subscription in your payment provider’s dashboard
  3. Try the deletion again

Stuck somewhere?

We are always here for you. Come chat with us in our Discord channel or send a tweet at @CourseLit.