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Adding a New User

Learn how to add users and manage roles (Contributor, Author, Editor) on your Indie Website. Get steps for user creation, profile editing, and password security.

Ready to bring some extra hands on deck? To get anyone started in the backend of your website, they’ll need their very own user account. 

To keep your site safe and secure, you can assign different levels of access to different people—meaning you get to delegate tasks without worrying about anyone accidentally changing the wrong settings.

💛 Did you know? Creating a user account is a must if you want someone's name to show up in a post' byline as an author. A person has to have an active account before they can be selected as an author for a published article!

Let's dive in!

Steps to add a new user

  • In the dashboard menu, click Users > Add New

  • Fill in the fields with the user’s information:

    • Username (required)

      • This will be the name they use to log in to your site.

      • This cannot be changed and it doesn't accept special characters;

    • E-mail (required)

      • Each user must have a unique email address (ie: the same email address cannot be used for more than one user);

    • First Name (optional)

    • Last Name (optional)

    • Website (optional)

    • Language (set to the website's default)

    • Password (required)

      • Clicking the Generate password button will show generate a new strong, random password for the new user;

    • Send User Notification:

      • When ticked, it will send your new user an email about their account;

    • Select their Role:
      Select the desired role (level of access) for this user from the dropdown list. 

❓Don't know which role to select? No worries! check out the next section on this help article to learn about each of the different types of roles and their access levels. 

    • Finally, click the Add New User button to create a new user account.

 

User roles

User roles are predefined sets of permissions that control what each user can and cannot do on your site. They’re designed to help you manage access depending on a person’s responsibilities.

Below are the three main user roles and their level of access to the site: 

📌 Note: To select someone as an author for a published article, they must have an active user account with either Author or Editor access.

Capability

 Editor Author Contributor
Create Own Posts ✅ ✅ ✅
Edit Own Posts ✅ ✅ ✅
Delete Own Posts ✅ ✅ ✅
Publish Own Posts ✅ ✅ ❌
Edit Others' Posts ✅ ❌ ❌
Publish Others' Posts ✅ ❌ ❌
Delete Others' Posts ✅ ❌ ❌
View Others' Posts

✅

(Drafts & Published)

✅

(Published only)

✅

(Published only)
Best For... Newsroom managers & senior editors who oversee everyone's work. Trusted staff writers who can self-publish their own pieces. Freelancers or guests who should submit work for review.

 

User profile fields

The User profile fields are displayed on author pages and on the User List Block. Please add a profile picture, biography and social media info.

 

 

 

Editing your profile

You can edit your own user profile by navigating to Users > Profile in the dashboard menu. This will bring you to a page where you can make changes to your existing information. When you’re finished, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Update Profile button to save your changes.

 

Other

🔒 Password and Security

  • To set a new password, click the button that says Set New Password. A strong randomized password will be automatically generated for you, but you can delete that and replace it with a different password if you prefer. The password strength indicator lets you know how secure your chosen password is as you type it;

  • If you have lost your phone, had your laptop stolen, or accidentally left your account logged in at a public computer, you can protect your site’s security by clicking the Log Out Everywhere Else button. This will log you out everywhere except for your current browser on your current device.

🙍 Valid usernames

  • After creating a person's account, it is not possible to change their Username, even if you are an administrator

  • Similarly than to most email addresses, there are certain symbols that aren't valid when creating a username. Some of these are:

    • Spanish tildes (á, é, í, ó, ú) and virgulilla (ñ)

    • the at symbol (@)

    • commas

    • angle brackets

    • quotation marks

✉️ Email Address

  • Nickname and Email are required fields

  • Each user must have a unique email address. It is not possible to use the same email address for multiple user accounts on your site

  • You will receive all administrative notifications to the email address you provide (notifications about new user registrations, new form submissions, etc.)

❓ How can an author submit contributions without needing full access to the site?

We recommend still adding them as users, but you can add them as an author, which will limit their permissions. As mentioned, an author can add and edit posts and events, but can’t publish them.

Alternatively, you can use an email within your publication to create the users, so the authors don't have access to the website. To do this, you will need to add what is called plus addressing or sub-addressing

To do this, use the same email address twice by adding a "+1" (or any other number or word) after the username and before the "@" symbol.

Examples would be support+1@indiegraf.com, support+2@indiegraf.com, and so on.

❓ Why do authors need user accounts?

This allows you to credit the authors for their work.