Managing Site Users
SPP includes a sophisticated user management system that lets you control and manage your site's internal admin users. Your Site Users launch new projects, build and manage pages and content, use admin functions and tools like the moderation interface, and access data and reports.
To gain access to your site, each user requires a user account. Everyone must have their own account, as users are not permitted to share generic user accounts.
Your SPP subscription includes a set number of user licenses. You can view these as a 'pool of licenses' to share between your users. Each active user account takes up a single license. If you run out of licenses, you can purchase more on a per-user basis.
You can also deactivate a user's account anytime and reallocate it to a different user. This lets you share your available user licenses within your organization. Deactivated users cannot access the system, but their details will be saved, and you can reactivate them at any time.
SPP's permission system lets you control what your users can and can't do on your site. It helps you protect your site's data and content by giving you control to assign various roles and permissions to your users, either on a sitewide or project-by-project basis.
You do this by assigning users to different User Types and User Roles, depending on what you want them to have permission to do on your site.
User Types
You can assign your users to two different User Types:
- Site Administrators - Provides complete access to all the features and functions across your entire site.
- Site Users - Provides limited access to some features and functions for specific projects on your site (depending on their assigned User Role).
- Community members - are individuals that signed up to be part of your online community, they are the ones contributing and engaging with your website.
Only Site Administrators can add and manage other users on a site.
User Roles
As a Site User, you won't be able to do much on your site until a Site Administrator assigns you to a project and gives you a User Role. User Roles determine what you can do within a project, such as adding and publishing content or just adding content.
SPP has four standard User Roles:
- Team Lead - Provides full access, authoring and publishing rights for all projects associated with a designated 'team'. Team Leads can also create new projects (in some cases) and access all data and reports for their team projects.
- Project Lead - Provides access, authoring, and publishing rights for a specific project. They can also access data, reports, and files associated with that project and review and approve proposed changes from Project Authors via approvals workflows.
- Project Author - Provides access and authoring rights for a specific project but cannot publish content. A Project Lead must approve any content changes made by a Project Author via an approvals workflow. They can also access data, reports and files associated with that project.
- Preview User - This role provides viewing rights to a specific project but does not have authoring or publishing rights or access to data, reports, and files. It primarily gives users access to draft projects to review before they are made live.
- Note: You can now share a preview link that doesn't require a user to be logged in to view a project in draft mode. Learn how here.
A user can only be assigned one User Role at a time, but you can give them different roles for different projects.
If you're an Enterprise subscriber, you can also add and customize User Roles using our permission model (contact our support team to learn more).
Site Sub-pages, such as the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, are only editable by Site Admins.
How to Add a Site User
Site Administrators can add new Site Users, which allocates an available Site User Licence.
To add a new Site User:
- Navigate to the Members area of the Dashboard and select the Add User button located in the upper, right of the page.
- Select Site User from the dropdown menu.
- Fill out the required information on behalf of the Site User (username, first name, last name, and password are required).
- Select the blue Add button to submit.
- Provide the Site User with the set password so they can access the Site using their email address.
Once added, users will be allocated a Site User Licence automatically. A Site User Profile will also be created, which can be viewed by following the username link in the "users" list of the Members area of the Dashboard.
Site User Profiles can be edited at any time by selecting the relevant user attribute, making any changes and confirming the change by selecting the tick button.
💡 User Tip
When adding a Site User, it is generally a good practice to request that they change the password supplied to them after their initial login for security purposes. Passwords can be changed by following the 'Forgot your password' link in the Sign In window.
Assigning a Site Administrator
Any User can be assigned as a Site Administrator after being added as a General User.
This action can only be performed by another Site Administrator, and will un-allocate the General User Licence assigned to that User and assign them a Site Administrator Licence.
To add (or remove) a Site Administrator:
- Navigate to the Members area of the Dashboard Panel and select the Site Users tab.
- Select the target username in the users list to view the User profile
- Select (or unselect) the No (or Yes) text next to Nominate as a Site Administrator towards the end of the User Profile.
- Select Yes (or Untick the box) and then select the blue ✓.
Deactivate and Delete Users
Users can be deactivated by Site Administrators, or removed from the Platform by SPP staff.
Deactivated Users are not allocated User Licenses, so the deactivation function can be used to manage and free up additional User Licences.
Deactivating a User will remove their access to the Platform, but will retain their details for future use if required. When a User is deactivated, their User Licence is un-allocated and can be assigned to another User.
Deleting a User will permanently remove them from the User database and delete all details associated with their account. Once deleted, User information cannot be recovered and there is work do be done around not losing any data from possible contributions made by that user, which is why only SPP members have the ability to do it.
To deactivate a user:
- Navigate to the Members area of the Dashboard Panel and select the Community Members or Site Users tab.
- Select the target username in the users list to view the User profile.
- Select the red Deactivate User button at the upper right section of the page to deactivate the user.
To delete a user:
Contact the SPP team through the support channel.
Assign a User Role
User Roles determine which privileges a User has on a Site or a particular project or group of projects. User Roles can be assigned in the Permitted Users section of the Project Attributes, either on the creation of the project in step three of the Project Launch Wizard or by opening the ‘Settings’ function of an existing Project Page and following the ‘details link.
To assign a User Role (in most cases):
- Add the User to the Permitted Users list (Users must exist in the system before they can be added)
- Select the desired User Role the dropdown menu next to each User
- Save changes to assign the User Role