DotAdmin User Guide

User Management

Users in the dotAdmin system are divided into two broad groups: Site Authors; the people within your organisation who are responsible for maintaining your website, and Public Users, who are visitors to your website who have signed up for, or been provided with, a user account.

The User Management interface is reached via the User Folder icon from the main toolbar.

The User Management Interface.

Note: Some Site Authors may see the User Edit icon instead of the User Folder icon. This means you only have permission to edit your own details. Clicking this icon leads directly to a page where you can edit your own information, and skips the management interface shown below.

Admin Groups

Each Site Author belongs to an Admin Group, which controls the zones in the dotAdmin system that the author has access to. By default, the dotAdmin system has one Admin Group named “Main” which allows access to the entire system. The image above shows a system with three Admin Groups, Main, Templates and Authors.

Note: The “Main” Admin Group cannot be edited or deleted.

User Clearance

In addition to the system of Admin Groups, each individual user is given a Clearance setting, which determines what kinds of actions he or she can take within the dotAdmin system. There are four different Clearance settings:

Cleared

Cleared authors have permission to create new documents within the zones allowed by their Admin Group, and edit documents which they have created. They cannot edit other authors' documents.

Group Admin

Group Admins can edit and delete user accounts within their own Admin Group, and can create Cleared authors.

Group Admins can edit any documents within the zones which their Admin Group allows access to, regardless of who the document belongs to.

Super Admin

Super Admins have access to functions such as Order Management, Site Configuration and other fundamental functions of the dotAdmin system.

Super Admins can edit any documents which they have access to, and can create, edit and delete user Group Admins and Cleared authors.

Note: Super Admin accounts in the “Main” Admin Group are all-powerful. They can create new Admin Groups, and can create, edit and delete Super Admins. However, they cannot edit or delete other Super Admins in the “Main” Admin Group.

Public Users

Public User accounts are not listed in the default view of the User Management interface, and are only available to Super Admin users. Super Admins can view a list of Public Users by clicking on the List Public Users icon shown in the example below.

The Public Users Interface.

Unlike Site Authors, Public Users are not grouped to determine their access privileges. Instead, they can be granted access to read any “Privileged” zone on a per-user basis.

Deleting Site Authors

When a Site Author is deleted, any content which that author was responsible for is handed over to another Author. Any content which is orphaned in this way will to to that Author's Group Admin, if one exists. Failing that, it will go to the a Super Admin in the group, or the Super Admin in the ‘main’ group.

Please see the subsequent pages in this section for more information on editing Admin Groups, Public Users and Editing Users.