Allow non-admins to manage XMS Systems site pages

Allow non-admins to manage XMS Systems site pages

Discussion on how to give registered members that are not administrators access to the website to edit selected pages without having access to the administration section.

The question that needs answering first is “Why would you want to allow non-admins to edit selected site pages”?

There could be a number of reasons for example;

  • The number of pages on your website is simply to many to manage by yourself
  • You are waiting for page content and it will only be available while you are away on holidays and it absolutely have to be published.
  • You delegated certain section of the website to be maintained by someone else
  • You might want to “sell” space on your website

To allow access will take a number of steps to ensure security is maintained and it is easy to revoke the access once done.

Requirements.

  1. The page in question should already exist. Even if it only contains a basic template
  2. The person that needs access needs to be registered and have an active account with your website.
  3. Ensure the “Site Pages” option is available in the “Member Menu” (Member Menu item 19)
    For security sake, make sure the “Access level” is set to a level higher than the “normal” member access level.
  4. You need to have access to the following sections of the administration section
    1. Dashboard > Members > Member List
    2. Dashboard > Website Configuration > Security > Page Admins
    3. Dashboard > Website Configuration > Member Menu

How to do it.

  1. Create the page if it is not already done
    Admin > Site Dashboard > Manage Site Content > My Pages > Scroll down and click the green “add new” button
  2. Find the member profile
    Admin > Site Dashboard > Members > Member List > click the blue “edit” button to manage the member
  3. Update Member Account Settings
    1. Scroll down to the “Account Settings" section of the member profile and
    2. locate “Access Level” and set this to the same as the “Site Pages” (the member menu) menu option
    3. locate the “Site Page Admin” radio group. Select “Yes”
    4. Scroll down and click “Update” to save the new account settings for the member.
  4. “Share the Page to the selected member”
    1. Dashboard > Website Configuration > Security > Page Admins
    2. ​You should see a list of “Page Admins”
    3. Locate the new “Page Admin” and click “edit”
    4. Click the page in the left column you want to “share” followed by a click on the “right arrow” to move the page over to the right column
    5. Share as many pages as you need to
    6. Click “Update” at the bottom of the page
  5. Notify the user
    Contact the delegated member and ask them to log out from your website and back in. They should see a new option to manage site pages in their Member Section once logged in.

Revoking access

It is important to remember to revoke access to the page if and when it is no longer required.

  1. Un-share the Page
    Dashboard > Website Configuration > Security > Page Admins
    Locate the “Page Admin” and remove the page from the right column
  2. Edit the member profile
    1. and update the “Access Level” to the appropriate level
    2. Set the “Site Page Admin” option to “No”
    3. Update the profile to save the changes

The minimum you need to do is to update the member profile and set “Site Page Admin” to “No”. This will force an error when the member tries to access the “Site Pages” menu option from within his/her member section.

Note:

  • Make sure to keep an eye on the page and content to ensure the content and layout are in line with the rest of the website.
  • There are always a risk when giving access to more people to manage certain things on your website. More members with advanced access means more passwords that can be potentially stolen and access gained by hackers.
  • Remember to revoke the access when it is no longer required

 

Written by:  - Updated 17 Apr, 2017  
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