Temporary Access: Set an Expiration Date for a Created User

QCFUM Pro and higher can attach an optional Access Expires date to a user created through the frontend Direct Create workflow. The Joomla account is still a normal Joomla user; QCFUM stores the expiration in its created-user tracking record so the Scheduled Automation security pass can enforce it later.

Temporary access is intended for ordinary time-limited accounts. It should not be used as a substitute for careful administrator-group design or as a way to manage protected backend-capable accounts.

Set Access Expires During Direct Create

  1. Open the unified Create User → Direct workflow.
  2. Enter the normal identity fields and choose an approved User Type Profile.
  3. When the current tier includes Temporary Access Dates, optionally choose Access Expires.
  4. Submit the user and verify the created-user record shows the intended expiration.

What 2.0.4 Stores

The Direct Create handler accepts a date value and stores it as that date at 23:59:59 in #__qcfum_created_users.access_expires_at. The created-user row also retains the creator, Joomla user ID, Profile/source context, status, and normal QCFUM attribution metadata.

The Expiration Is a QCFUM Enforcement Rule

Joomla itself does not automatically understand QCFUM’s access_expires_at column. QCFUM keeps its native Scheduled Automation task available whenever active temporary-access records still need enforcement, even if commercial automation features are otherwise disabled.

Approval and Expiration Are Separate

If the selected Profile or workflow requires approval, the account begins blocked/pending. The expiration timestamp is still preserved. After approval changes the tracking row to active, the security enforcement pass can block the account when the expiration becomes due.

Time-Boundary Note

QCFUM 2.0.4 compares the stored timestamp with database UTC_TIMESTAMP(). For time-sensitive deployments, test the effective cutoff on the production server rather than assuming a browser-local midnight interpretation.

Community Discussion

Want to compare Joomla user-onboarding workflows, share practical QCFUM tips, or discuss how other administrators use this feature? Visit the QC Frontend User Manager Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific entitlement problems, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.