All users must belong to a “home” group and any user can be a LiveWhale Admin regardless of what group they call home. (Nonetheless, we do tend to put the main LiveWhale Admins in the default LiveWhale Admin group.)

Users are able to edit the content of their home group plus any others for which they are allowed to “group-switch.” To allow a user to group-switch, edit their user and check off Manage content for other groups, and select the group(s) you want them to have access to.

Creating and importing users

Admins and those with user management permissions can create users one-by-one using the Toolbox > Groups and users page in LiveWhale. You can either click a group name and then “+ Add user” on the Groups manager, or clicking “+ Add another user” from the Group editor will add them to whatever group you’re currently in.

From this page you can set:

• First and Last Name – will appear in the admin Activity Log and “Last modified by” system messages
• Username
• Permissions – see below for more info about User Permissions
• Email address – see Email Notifications for more information

If you are using single-sign-on (SSO), the Password field will not be shown. Instead, only Username will appear and you must match this field to whatever username value will be sent by your SSO server.

Giving a user access to multiple groups

By default, a user will be able to see and edit items owned by their group. You can check off “Allow access to other groups?” to make them a group-switcher. This will allow them to manage content in multiple groups and switch groups using the toolbar.

Importing a CSV of users

You can also import users in bulk via CSV. The easiest method is to first use the Export tool first to see a sample CSV of the column/row formatting, and then to paste your user data into that same format.

Deleting and restoring users

You can delete users one-by-one from the Edit User page, or in bulk by checking them off and using “With checked items…” from the manager view.

Deleting a user is a non-destructive action. None of their content will be lost, and while they will no longer have access to log in to LiveWhale, their user record will remain in the trash (Deleted items) indefinitely in order to be associated with Edit and Activity Log histories. If you need to, you can restore them at any time using “Deleted items” in the toolbar.

User Activity

Administrators can view a full list of user activity in Toolbox > Activity log. Otherwise, the user list under Toolbox > Groups & users > Users gives a quick indication of who has been most active, including the below information and filtering options.

Permissions

Permissions in LiveWhale Calendar 3.0+

In LiveWhale Calendar 3.0, permissions are configured on a per-user basis using individual checkboxes rather than bundled permission levels. This gives administrators much more flexibility in tailoring what each user can do. The permissions are organized into a few groups, mirroring how they appear in the UI.

Workflow and approvals

These two permissions work together to support a draft approval workflow. See Drafts and Workflow for a full walkthrough.

• Create and edit [events and] event drafts
  The baseline permission for any calendar editor. Users with this permission can create and edit events and save draft versions of events. If Approval is required (below), they’ll only be able to edit drafts.
• Approval required to publish I
  If checked, draft events created or edited by this user must be approved by a designated curator before changes are published to your live calendar. Users without this box checked can publish their own events directly.
• Mark as curator for events requiring approval
  If checked, this user will receive notifications of all events requiring approval created in their group(s). Curators can review and publish drafts submitted for their approval. (Drafts can also be published by other users with publish permissions, or by administrators.)

Tools for event managers

These permissions appear under the Tools for event managers section of the Toolbox for users who have any of them enabled.

• Create and edit widgets
  Allows the user to build and manage widgets—embeddable event feeds and calendars that can be placed on other pages of your site. More about Widgets.
• Upload files
  Allows the user to upload files (PDFs, documents, etc.) to attach to events or use elsewhere in LiveWhale.
• View reporting and analytics
  Gives the user access to LiveWhale’s built-in reporting and analytics tools.
• Import data via spreadsheet (CSVs)
  Allows the user to bulk-import events, users, locations, etc. using a formatted CSV file.

Community superpowers

These permissions appear under the Community superpowers section of the Toolbox. They’re geared toward users who need a bit more reach across the calendar — managing shared content, users, or groups.

• Manage event types, global tags, and global locations
  Allows the user to add, edit, and delete event types, tags, and locations that are available globally across all groups.
• Manage blurbs
  Allows the user to add and edit blurbs within their group(s). See Using Blurbs in LiveWhale Calendar for more information.
• Manage users
  Allows the user to add and edit other users within their group(s), up to and including their own permission level. (For instance, a user with this permission cannot grant permissions they don’t have themselves.)
• Manage groups
  Allows the user to add and edit groups
• View sitewide activity stream
  Gives the user access to the Activity log, showing edits and actions across all groups in LiveWhale.

System administration and theming

• System administrator
  Administrators get access to all of the above permissions, plus system tools like error and debug logging, diagnostics, backups, and upgrades. Administrator access should be restricted to a small set of users who need oversight of the entire calendar system.
• Edit ingredients
  Ingredients are the theming files that form the design of your calendar — HTML, CSS, JS, and XML templates, styles, scripts, and includes. This permission allows a user to manage those files directly in LiveWhale. You might grant this to a developer who needs theming access without full administrator permissions, or conversely, you may have administrators who don’t need to touch theming at all.

Permissions in LiveWhale Calendar 2.x

If you’re upgrading from LiveWhale Calendar 2.x, you’ll notice that the old bundled permission levels — Editor, Publisher, Curator, and Administrator — have been replaced by the granular per-user checkboxes described above. Your existing users’ permissions will carry over automatically during the upgrade — no action needed on your part. The table below shows how the old levels map to the new individual permissions:

More in the docs:

• Drafts and Workflow
• Using Blurbs in LiveWhale Calendar
• Email Notifications
• Managing Groups

User permission options fall into several levels. For more granular options within LiveWhale CMS, you can check and uncheck individual options on a per-user basis.