In Absorb LMS, the term Suspended refers to a Portal level account status and, separately, to a state that can apply to Course Enrollments. It is not a status that applies to an individual User. This article explains when a Suspended status appears, what it does, and how it differs from turning off a single User, so you know what to expect and what action to take.
The Suspended Portal Status
Suspended is one of the statuses that can be applied to an entire Portal. It is typically used when a trial Portal has expired or when an account has an outstanding balance. A Suspended status is set by Absorb rather than configured by clients, and it restricts access to the whole Portal until the portal is reinstated.
While a portal is Suspended, access is affected as follows:
Element |
Description |
| Learners | Cannot sign in. Access to the Portal is blocked until it is reinstated. |
| Administrators | Blocked, except Administrators with billing or subscription permissions, who retain limited access to settle the outstanding balance. |
| Automatic Enrollments and Subscriptions | Paused while the Portal is Suspended and resume automatically once the Portal is reinstated. |
| Notifications | Most automated emails are paused. Password-reset emails continue so that an Administrator can regain access. |
| API | Application Programming Interface (API) access is unavailable while the Portal is Suspended. |
When a Learner attempts to sign in to a Suspended Portal, they are shown a message indicating that access is unavailable. They will need to wait until the Portal is reinstated before they can sign in again.
A Suspended Portal is usually reinstated once any outstanding balance is settled or the trial is converted to an active subscription. If your Portal is Suspended, reach out to your your Absorb representative or Support.
For related information, see Frequently Asked Billing Questions.
How Suspended Differs From Other Portal Statuses
A Portal can hold one of several statuses, and each restricts access in a different way. The following table compares Suspended with the other Portal statuses so you can identify which one applies to your situation:
Status |
Description |
| Enabled | Normal operation. Learners and Administrators can sign in as usual. |
| Suspended | Learner access is blocked, while Administrators with billing permissions retain limited access to resolve payment. Used for expired trials or accounts with an outstanding balance. |
| Disabled | Fully locked for everyone, including billing Administrators. Used when a Portal is no longer active. |
| Paused | A temporary state used during technical maintenance, such as a data migration. Access is unavailable and automated jobs re-queue automatically once the portal is reinstated. |
Suspended Course Enrollments
Suspended can also apply to individual Course Enrollments that are granted through a Subscription. This is separate from the Portal status described above and does not block sign-in.
When a Subscription that grants access to a Course expires, or when a Subscription seat is removed, the related Enrollments are set to Suspended and the date is recorded. The Learner keeps their enrollment record, but access to those Courses is paused. If the Learner regains access through another active Subscription, the affected Enrollments automatically return to Active. For more information, see E-Commerce Subscriptions.
Suspended Versus an Inactive User
A common point of confusion is whether an individual User can be Suspended. They cannot. A single User can be Active or Inactive, and there is no Suspended option at the User level.
When you turn off a User, you set them to Inactive. An Inactive User cannot sign in, but their record and history are preserved for reporting. Because active-user counts include only Active Users, making a User Inactive also removes them from those counts. A Suspended Portal, by contrast, blocks sign-in across the whole Portal without changing any individual User's Active or Inactive status.
For guidance on turning off a User, see Deletion vs Inactivation for Courses, Curricula and Users.
Comments
Article is closed for comments.