The three kinds of admin
An admin is someone who can log in to the admin panel. There are three kinds, so that you can let a helper look after concerts or members without also letting them redesign the site or remove other admins. This page is for whoever decides who gets which kind.
Admins are separate from choir members. A member logs in to the member portal and cannot open the admin panel; an admin is not automatically a member. Someone who needs both is added in both places, and may use the same email address for each.
The three kinds in plain words
| Kind | The admin panel's own description | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Site Admin | Everything, including adding and removing admins. | The webmaster, or whoever is responsible for the site. Have at least two. |
| Admin | Everything except adding and removing admins. | A trusted committee member who helps run the whole site. |
| Manager | Concerts, members, tickets and the rest of the day-to-day, but not Site Settings, Pages or how the site is set up. | The librarian, the membership secretary, the box office volunteer, the treasurer. |
Your kind is shown at the foot of the menu as Signed in as an Admin or Signed in as a Manager. A Site Admin sees no such line.
What each kind may do
| Site Admin | Admin | Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day-to-day pages: Concerts, Gallery, Past Events, Messages, Members, Announcements, Schedule, Rehearsal Tracks, Member Files, Useful Links | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ticketing, including cancelling orders and giving refunds | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Donors, including recording gifts and issuing receipts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Emailing members, donors and ticket holders | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Changing what donor receipts say (the receipt settings) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Site Settings | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pages | Yes | Yes | No |
| The guided setup | Yes | Yes | No |
| Updates, and seeing the site's version | Yes | Yes | No |
| The Email page (hosted sites on the Starter or Premium plan) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Seeing who the admins are | Yes | Yes | No |
| Adding, changing and removing admins | Yes | No | No |
| The custom style sheet in Site Settings (self-hosted sites) | Yes | No | No |
A "Yes" still depends on the feature being switched on and, on a site we host, on your plan including it. Roles and permissions has the complete table.
A Manager can do everything in Ticketing and Donors, including refunds, receipts and mailings to everyone on a list. Being a Manager limits how the site is set up, not what can be done with its money and its people. Give the login only to people you would trust with those.
What a Manager sees
A Manager's menu and dashboard simply leave out Site Settings, Pages, Admins and Email. There is no version link on the dashboard and no notice about plans or updates.
If a Manager types the address of one of those pages, they are taken back to the dashboard. If they try to save something that is not theirs to change, such as the donor receipt settings, the site refuses with: Your admin account does not include this. Ask a Site Admin if you need it.
What an Admin sees
An Admin sees everything a Site Admin does, with two differences:
- The Admins page is a list to read. There is no New Admin button and no buttons to change or delete anyone.
- On a self-hosted site, the Custom style sheet box in Site Settings is not shown.
Who is a Site Admin without being made one
- The first admin of a site we host. The person who created the site is its first admin and is a Site Admin.
- Anyone who logs in with the server's username and password on a self-hosted site. That login always has full access.
- An admin with no kind recorded. Admins added before the three kinds existed are Site Admins until someone changes them.
Nobody new becomes a Site Admin by accident: when you add an admin, you must choose their kind yourself.
Changing someone's kind
A Site Admin can change any admin's kind, and the change takes effect on that person's very next click. See Add, change or remove an admin.