---
title: "Author"
source: https://dev.pageseeder.com/reference/glossary/author.html
last_updated: 2026-08-07T17:09:54+10:00
tokens: ~581
---

# Author

The person who submitted a [comment](comment.md), [version](version.md), [note](edit_note.md) or edit to PageSeeder. In the user interface, PageSeeder displays a human-readable name to identify the author.

## Members

When the author has an account on PageSeeder, the author is the [member](member.md) and might include other details such as an email address and username.

In that case, the API uses the [\<author\> element](../../api/elements/element_author.md), inserting all the [\<member\> element](../../api/elements/element_member.md) attributes to represent an author:

```xml
<author id="13" 
        firstname="Michael"
        surname="Hodges"
        username="mhodges"
        status="activated">
  <fullname>Michael Hodges</fullname>
</author>
```

Or an JSON object name `author`:

```json
{
  "id": 13,
  "firstname": "Michael"
  "surname": "Hodges",
  "username": "mhodges"
  "status": "activated",
  "fullname": "Michael Hodges"
}
```

If the member hasn’t activated their account, the name is usually “Member” followed by a random number assigned when the account is created. For example, `"Member 67"`. When the user enters their actual name, it is automatically updated.

If the member account is deleted from PageSeeder, only the original name is retained, and other details are no longer updated. It appears like a non-member. Adding or removing a member from the group has no affect on the name.

If the member account is deleted from the server with the “**Remove name and email from comments****, edits, etc.**” option, all member details are expunged from PageSeeder and the author is shown as “Name removed”.

```xml
<author>
  <fullname>Name removed</fullname>
</author>
```

## Non-members

When a [comment](comment.md) is posted by someone that doesn’t have an account on a [PageSeeder server](pageseeder_server.md), they have to provide a human-readable name.

```xml
<author>
  <fullname>John Citizen</fullname>
</author>
```

Or

```json
{
  "fullname": "John Citizen"
}
```

This happens when a [group](group.md) is open to the [general public](group_public.md). When someone who isn’t a [member](member.md) posts a comment using an API call such as [Service: /comments/forurl \[POST\]](../../api/services/create-comment-url-public-POST.md), they can be prompted for a name.