See also: family

Overview

Plucky is most often used in self-control mode. But some users, especially some parents, would prefer other-control mode, meaning a person other than the primary computer user has control over the configuration of Plucky. That’s what a restricted device is for.

A restricted device is a computer on which Plucky is installed and for which the little red restricted button has been pressed on https://u.pluckeye.net/ . Once a device has been restricted, configuration changes can only be made by the registered device owner after logging in https://u.pluckeye.net/ .

This is how Plucky implements password protection.

How to set it up

Imagine Edmund has found the self-control mode has not worked well, and both he and Susan think life would be better if she were in charge of Edmund’s Plucky configuration. There are two ways to do it.

Option 1: Just change Edmund’s email to Susan’s

The simplest option is for Susan to simply take over Edmund’s account. This is called an account transfer.

  1. Edmund logs in and visits his user profile page.

  2. Edmund changes the email address to Susan’s.

  3. Edmund checks his email inbox, sees an email about the change, and clicks the verification link in the email to confirm the change.

  4. Edmund then logs out.

  5. Susan visits https://u.pluckeye.net/login and resets the password to the account to one she knows and Edmund does not.

  6. Susan visits the page for the device Edmund uses (visible on https://u.pluckeye.net/profile), and she clicks the red “restrict” button to prevent Edmund from making future changes to his configuration.

Option 2: Create a separate account for Susan and have Edmund disown the device

If Edmund still wants to retain a Plucky account so that he can manage some other device, then Susan must create a second account and he must disown his primary account.

  1. Susan installs Plucky on Edmund’s computer if it isn’t already installed.

  2. Susan creates an account for herself on https://u.pluckeye.net/.

  3. If Edmund already has an account on https://u.pluckeye.net/, he must visit his device’s webpage and click the disown button to relinquish control of his device.

  4. Susan then logs on to https://u.pluckeye.net/ as Susan using Edmund’s computer. The website informs Susan that she now owns Edmund’s device.

  5. Susan navigates to the webpage for the device by clicking on her name in the upper right hand corner of the page, selecting profile, and on her profile page, clicking on the computer name.

  6. Susan creates a new general configuration for Edmund’s device.

  7. Susan configures the new configuration. She decides to import the classic and the no programs configurations to start. She also enables the system feature in the main configuration by typing:

    feature:system

    in the edit tab of the configuration.

  8. Susan clicks the red “restrict” button.

  9. Susan runs this command on the computer in a console window:

    pluck sync

  10. Susan restarts the computer.

After performing the above steps, the allow and block buttons will not change the device configuration. Instead they will submit suggestions that Susan may approve or reject. Similarly, configuration changes made in a console window will have no effect. Susan can now configure Edmund’s device by simply logging into the users site from any computer she likes.

Alternatives

An alternative to a restricted device is to set a long delay on the device, say 7 days, and to then rely on the approver and inspector system to help Edmund stay on track.

Last updated: 2026-09-25