Users & Roles
Users are the people who hold an account on the website you build. Roles are the labels you put on those people, such as Student, Member, or Customer.
Together they are what turn a normal website into one where visitors can sign in and see something different from everybody else. A user is the person. A role is the badge they wear. The badge is what decides which content they are allowed to see.
Users are also the foundation of the CMS, opening the door to more complex websites where people have accounts, log in and register, see different information depending on their role, and post their own content.
Where users and roles live
You manage both from the Users entry in the CMS sidebar. From there you can add, delete, and modify users, and create the roles you want to assign to them.
Adding users
Most users add themselves. When a visitor registers an account on the front end of your website, they appear here automatically.
You can also add someone by hand from CMS > Users > All Users. This is useful when you want to set up an account for a person before the website goes live.
Creating roles
New roles are created from CMS > Roles.
Give each role a name that describes the group of people it covers. A gym website might have Member and Trainer. An online course might have Student and Tutor.
Assigning a role
A role reaches a user in one of two ways:
- Automatically, at the moment they register, using the default role set on the Register form. See assigning a role at sign-up below.
- By hand, by editing a user from CMS > Users > All Users.
Using roles on your pages
Once a role exists, it appears in the membership options on every block, ready to be used to show or hide content. See Membership blocks.
If a role you have just created does not appear in the membership options on a block, save your page and then refresh the browser. The list of roles is loaded when the page is saved.
Assigning a role at sign-up
Every time someone registers on your website, you can give them a role automatically. You set this up on the Register form itself, using the Default Roles option.
This is what makes membership work without any manual effort on your part. Someone signs up, they are given the Member role, and every block reserved for Members opens up to them.
A real example. You run a yoga studio website. You create a role called Member. On your Register form you set the default role to Member. A visitor called Ana fills in the form. The moment she submits it, Ana holds the Member badge, and the class timetable block you reserved for Members becomes visible to her. You did nothing.
Letting people log in and register
The Login/Register element is what puts a sign-in form on the page. Drag it onto a page from the elements panel and account functionality is switched on for your website.
It has four display types, which you switch between using the Type option:
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Login | Lets people sign in. Can go anywhere on your pages. |
| Authorized | Shows only when someone is signed in. Best placed in the header so people can see they are logged in. |
| Register | Lets people create an account. |
| Forgot Password | Lets people reset their password. An email with a reset link is sent to their registered address. |
If you want visitors to be able to register, add the element and change its Type to Register.
For every option this element offers, see Login/Register.
Emails are sent automatically when someone creates an account and when someone uses the forgot password form. Those emails go to the address the person registered with.
Tip: drag the Login element into a popup inside a Tab element to build a combined Login / Register popup. Save that popup as global and you can then open it from any link anywhere on your website.
The reset password page
When someone uses the Forgot Password link, they receive an email containing a reset link. That link brings them to the reset password page, where they choose a new password.
This page is a System Page, which means it already exists and you do not have to build it. You can edit how it looks from CMS > Settings > System Pages. See System pages.
Showing a person their own details
Text elements can display information about whoever is currently signed in, through the dynamic content options. Choose a Text element, open its dynamic options, and you will find user-related choices there.
This is how you write a heading that reads “Welcome back, Ana” rather than “Welcome back”. See Dynamic elements.
Tip: combine this with membership blocks to build a whole section that greets a signed-in person by name.