Error updating privacy defaults for existing members
You used the Apply to existing members option on the Privacy defaults page and saw the error “Some members could not be updated.” (v1.1: was “Some members could not be updated — download error report.”)
What’s happening
Section titled “What’s happening”When you apply privacy defaults to existing members, MapleGather updates them as part of the save: for every member who has saved their directory settings, each field the member hasn’t set themselves is changed to your default. In the current version that update either completes for everyone or — if it can’t — is refused with nothing saved, so it doesn’t end with this error. If a later version reports some members as not updated, this article tells you what to do.
(v1.3, 2026-10-17: this section said MapleGather runs a batch in the background that can fail part-way; and v1.2 added “In the current version the retroactive apply isn’t carried out: no batch runs and no member is changed”. The apply is now built and runs with the save.)
The batch only updates fields that members haven’t already customized. Members who had their own preference for a field keep their setting even when the batch fails for other reasons.
How to fix it
Section titled “How to fix it”- If a Download report link appears in the message, select it to download the error report. The report lists the members whose records could not be updated. The link appears only when a report is available. If there is none, no list of the affected members exists anywhere — select Undo this change (see Rollback option below) to put every member back, then apply the defaults again.
- Review the report to identify the affected members.
- If the number of affected members is small, you can update their privacy settings manually via each member’s record in the Members admin list.
- If the number is large, select Undo this change before you leave the page, then save again with Apply these defaults to existing members now checked. If the same members fail again, update them from their member records.
Rollback option
Section titled “Rollback option”If you want to undo the entire batch — including the members who were updated successfully — select the Undo this change button shown in the error message (the message says: “You can undo the change below.”). Do it before you leave the page: the button appears only on that message, and no other screen can undo the update. [amended pre-merge 2026-10-17, c21 BD r2: this said a rollback is available for 48 hours after the batch ran, quoting “A rollback option is available for 48 hours.”] (v1.1: the link was named “Undo this change (available for 48 hours)”.) (v1.3: it is a button, not a link.) The rollback puts back each field the update changed, unless the member has changed it since. Each member it changes gets an admin-override entry on their Privacy audit tab. A successful update offers the same Undo on its “Privacy defaults applied to {N} members” message, also only until you leave the page. If the undo fails you’ll see “Could not undo — try again” with “Try again before you leave this page — no other screen can undo it.”; select it again. [amended pre-merge 2026-10-17, c21 BD r2: this said the success message’s Undo lasted 48 hours.]
If that didn’t work
Section titled “If that didn’t work”Members the update didn’t change keep the privacy settings they had before it; nothing of theirs is lost. To bring them in line with your defaults, update them from each member’s record, or save again with Apply these defaults to existing members now checked. Applying again changes only fields a member hasn’t set themselves, so members it already updated aren’t changed twice.