Find Currently Logged In Users
Asked by Cynthia Fehr:

Hi,

Is there a way to see who is currently logged into Confluence?

Thanks


Answers:
author: Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
body: Not really, because "currently logged in" is not something that is particularly useful.

Think of it this way - I log into Confluence, do some work, wander off to make tea, get distracted, play with the cat, go shopping, whatever, and don't come back until the next day, where I simply pick up where I left off, because I left the browser open.

At what point am I no longer logged into Confluence? Technically, there's no point at which I'm not "logged in". But in real life, I logged off when I got thirsty.

comments: author: Alex Yasurek
body: Confluence will log you out if you have been idle for a while. It will end the session so next time you try to change pages or do something that requires you to be logged in, it will send you to the login screen.I would also like to know who is currently logged into the instance but I am not sure its possible. I haven't found of anyway to do it using plugins or the API.


author: Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
body: That is true, but if you've got the "remember me" flag set, although you may get new session details, it's the same login as far as the user is concerned.I suspect we probably should ask why the question has come up - if it's for load testing or performance reasons, then the number of "currently logged in users" isn't actually useful. If it's licencing, then what you really need is "people who have actively contributed over a recent period". In fact, I'm not even sure "currently logged in" is a useful thing to know here.


author: Alex Yasurek
body: You would be able to get a lot of that info from Google analytics but I can think of some reasons I would want to know exactly who is logged in at a specific point in time. Either way, I don't think it is possible to find out. I think Google Analytics may be able to tell you how many users are currently on your instance but not who they are.


author: bgreen4
body: If you "wander off to make tea, get distracted, play with the cat, go shopping" but leave your browser open, you are still logged into Confluence (unless your session has timed out). There is no question of "when am I considered logged out?" That is a ludicrous comment-- and knowing who is currently logged in IS particularly useful. If no one is logged in, I can restart the service without interrupting anyone's work. If there are people logged in and I know who they are, I can send out an email alerting them about a service/server restart (for example).

This should not be marked as an answer, as you did not answer the question, unless you count your vague response of 'not really' an answer.


author: Cynthia Fehr
body: I wanted to find out because I was about to restart confluence and didn't want to pull the rug out from under someone's feet.

comments: author: Alex Yasurek
body: One thing you can do in instances like that is put up a banner:<https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONFKB/How+to+Add+a+Site-Wide+Banner>I do see your point though because I run into similar issues. The banner helps but if a user is editing a page, they will not see the banner until they either save the page or go to another page. I have put up a banner before when i needed to do a quick restart and later heard complaints that people lost work because they did not see the banner since they were in edit mode when i put it up.


author: Cynthia Fehr
body: Yeah seems like an important feature for a tool like this.


Tags: confluence-administration