Any Editor Can Add a New User
“Can I have editing access to this site?”
The most common question we’ve been receiving about WordPress is, “Can I have editing access to this site?” So far, the answer has always been, “Yes.” Going forward, the answer won’t change, but the person granting access will.
Given how popular requests for access are, and how reliable our current user base is, the WebTeam has made the decision to open up the process of granting editing access to www.bates.edu sites. In other words, the WebTeam won’t be the only group granting access: You and your colleagues will be able to grant access as well.
Let’s say, for example, that you’re a new employee in the Office of College Advancement who will be working on a few of their websites and needs access to do so. Rather than asking the college’s central web governance team for access, you can now look within your own office (or department, or program) for access. Anyone who already has access to a given site has the permission and ability to grant additional Bates’ faculty, staff, and students with editing access to that site.
This is the screen that appears after clicking the “Add a User” button from the WordPress Dashboard. From this screen, you can specify which Bates’ faculty or staff member, or student, you would like to grant editing access to WordPress.
A screenshot showing the WordPress Dashboard. This is the screen that users see immediately after logging in. The “Add a User” button is featured prominently and is available to all WordPress users*.
Why open the process of granting editing access?
- There’s no benefit to keeping the governance of access exclusively in the hands of the WebTeam. While the WebTeam is still the college’s central web governance team, regarding the specific topic of access, the community has demonstrated that it can govern itself.
- Opening the process of granting editing access will increase website-related communication within office, departments, and programs.
*Users with the role of Manager or Administrator have permission to add users. The roles below Manager (Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) don’t have permission to add users, but these roles are seldom used. ~95% of Bates’ 283 WordPress users are Managers.