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Getting started: Roles and user accounts

November 10, 2020

A key reason for using a content management system such as Drupal is to spread out the work of adding content to your site. Ensure that all staff members or volunteers who are in a position to contribute to the site have an account set up for them and are assigned the appropriate role for the tasks they will be carrying out on the site.

Adding a new user account

  • Start by logging in with a site manager account.
  • Once logged in, with the manager role, you will see a toolbar at the top of the page.
  • Select the “People” link.
  • Start by clicking the button “Add user”.
  • Type in a user name as well as an email and a password. Note that any email address may only be used for one user account.
  • You can opt to inform a user of their new role (they will be sent a one time login link).
  • Save the new user.
  • The next step is to assign this new user to a role. Roles determine what permissions a particular user has (that is what they are allowed to do on the site.)

User roles

The following roles are available on an Drutopia site:

  • Anonymous user: A site visitor who has not logged in (Exists by default).
  • Authenticated user: Anyone who has registered on the site, and authenticated by logging in. (Exists by default).
  • Contributor: A contributor is a member of staff or a volunteer who is going to be posting content but not editing other people’s content.
  • Editor: The editor can edit other people’s content as well as post and edit their own.
  • Manager: The manager has permissions to add users and groups as well as some site configuration permissions.

For a hosted version of Drutopia the highest permission level is site manager. For an independently managed Drutopia site, you would also have access to an administrator role which has all permissions on the site and hence has security implications.

On the main user administration page (/admin/people) you will see a list of users. Select the user you want to assign a role to by checking the box beside their user name. Then use the drop down selector under Action to choose the role you want to apply to the selected user. Then click the Apply to selected items button.

You can also remove roles from users this way as well as blocking and deleting users.

For all documentation on working with your Drutopia site see our documentation site.