How have parental controls changed in Endless OS 3.8?

This content refers to Endless OS 3.8.0 and onwards. It does not apply to older versions.

In versions of Endless OS before 3.8 (in particular, the Hack laptop), parental controls were automatically configured on one user account which was also set up as the system administrator, and the parental controls were configured through the Settings application. This is no longer supported on Endless OS 3.8, and if you wish to continue using parental controls, you must reconfigure the user accounts slightly. Parental controls are now configured through a separate ‘Parental Controls’ application.

  1. Open the ‘Users’ panel in Settings and unlock it using the button in the top-right.
  2. Press ‘Add User’ to add a new user. Name the account ‘administrator’, or name it after whoever will administrate the computer, and ensure it is an ‘Administrator’ account rather than a ‘Standard’ one.
  3. Add the account and don’t forget the password you chose for it.
  4. Using the tabs at the top of the window, switch to the old administrator account which has parental controls enabled on it. Toggle the ‘Administrator’ switch under ‘Account Settings’ to remove administrator privileges from the account. You may need to restart your session for this change to take effect.
  5. You may now change the parental controls on the old account using the ‘Parental Controls’ button. The parental controls previously configured on the account will still be in place and effective.
  6. You must use the new administrator account to make system changes in future.

If a user account has parental controls configured on it, and you turn it into an administrator account, the parental controls will still apply to the user. If turning a user into an administrator, you should unset their parental controls first, using the ‘Parental Controls’ application.