User Impersonation

Super-admins can temporarily act as any other user — operator or front-end member — to reproduce and diagnose permission or access issues without sharing credentials.

How It Works

Impersonation is a full session swap. While active, every request — reads and writes — executes as the target user. If you save, delete, or modify content while impersonating, those changes are attributed to the target, not to you. Use this feature carefully.

A fixed banner appears at the top of every page (admin and front-end) while impersonation is active. Click Return to your account in that banner to end the session immediately and return to your own account.

Starting Impersonation

1. Open an auth-enabled collection (the auth operator collection or any public-registration member collection) in the admin.
2. Open the object for the user you want to impersonate.
3. Click the ⋯ collection-actions menu.
4. Select Impersonate User.

Total CMS redirects you automatically based on the target’s type:

• Operator targets land in the admin dashboard.
• Member targets land on the front-end home page (the admin is gated to operators).

Restrictions

• Super-admin only. Only super-admins can start an impersonation session.
• Cannot impersonate super-admins. The target must not be a super-admin.
• Cannot impersonate yourself.
• No nesting. You cannot start a new impersonation while one is already active.

Ending Impersonation

Click Return to your account in the fixed banner. This works from any page — admin or front-end — and is the only way to end the session. The banner’s return action is CSRF-protected.

Audit Trail

Both the start and the stop of every impersonation session are recorded in the access log with the super-admin’s identity, the target user, and the timestamp. Review the log in Admin → Access Log to audit impersonation activity.