This article...
- Describes Higher Logic's three online-community Administrator roles: Super Admin, Site Admin, and Community Admin.
- Details the permissions and functions that are associated with each Admin role.
- Explains how Super Admins can manage the capabilities of other Admins.
- Lists the administrative tasks, per site and per community, that various Admins can manage based on their permissions.
Three Admins in a community site
A Higher Logic site offers three levels of Admin-user permissions so that the various administrative tasks can be shared. Each level gives the assigned users the permissions that are necessary for them to fulfill that administrative function in the organization.
- Super Admins have the greatest set of permissions in a Higher Logic site. They can do everything that Site Admins and Community Admins can do. They can access all of the content, pages, and communities of their site, and they have access to Super Admin-only tools and functionality via the Admin interface.
- Community Admins have permissions and functions that are limited to one or more communities in which they have been assigned this permission level. They can update their community's join and view permissions; add and remove the Community Admin role; add members; restrict and remove current members; run reports; moderate member activities; manage community events; manage community volunteer opportunities; and perform other tasks as indicated in the tables below.
IMPORTANT: In communities that have a Microsite, Community Admins automatically have Site Admin permissions also. This is true of a community that becomes associated to a microsite, too; that community's Community Admins automatically inherit Site Admin permissions for that community.
- Site Admins can manage their site's layout; apply a theme; upload site imagery; set up advertisements; manage their Volunteer program; use the Content Management System (CMS) to create, edit, and remove pages and content; and perform other tasks as indicated in the tables below.
NOTE: Super Admins can "lock" some aspects of site-management functionality in order to prevent Site Admins from making changes; such instances are denoted in the tables below. See Lock Pages & Content to learn how to limit editing capabilities to Super Admins.
See Manage Site, Community, and Super Admins to learn how to manage (grant and remove) these three levels of site- and content-management permissions.
Permissions breakdown by Admin level
The tables in the following sections list — as "actions" — the various features, functionality, and tools that are available and which Admins can perform the actions.
CMS pages
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
- Site Admins can perform all of the actions listed below, unless a Super Admin has "locked" the action to prevent Site Admins performing an action.
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Manage a site's Navigation Bar | Create pages |
| Edit pages | Delete pages |
| Copy pages | Move pages |
CMS content
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
- Site Admins can perform all of the actions listed below, unless a Super Admin has "locked" individual content items to prevent Site Admins performing an action.
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Add content to pages | Edit page content |
| Delete page content | Move page content |
Site Setup
Most of these actions are performed on the Site Setup tabs.
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
- Site Admins can perform all of the actions listed below, unless a Super Admin has "locked" the action to prevent Site Admins performing an action.
NOTE: If you're a Site Admin, you might not be able to perform some of these actions.
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Create themes (Super Admins only) | Apply themes |
| Edit applied themes (Super Admins can "lock" this ability from Site Admins.) | Manage Contact Us information |
| Manage site imagery (e.g., your organization's logo, header, and page backgrounds) | Manage site layout options (e.g., main menu bar, footer type and its content) |
| Run Site Traffic report |
Communities
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins can perform most of the actions listed below; the exceptions are:
- Create/assign Topic Community
- Moderate users
- Create email templates
- Site Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below, unless a Super Admin grants them the Create communities permission.
| Actions | Notes |
|---|---|
| Manage community Settings | Settings could be the join and view permissions; a community’s name, description, and features |
| Email community members | By default, Community Admins can target community members in either of two ways: All members of the community or Only those who have joined in the last 30 days. If you license Group Manager, Super Admins can create additional targeting filters that Community Admins can also use. |
| Add community members | Higher Logic-managed communities only. By default, Community Admins can invite members to join a community but cannot add them, unless a Super Admin has configured the Community Type to allow Community Admins to add members. See Community Types to learn more. |
| Remove community members | Higher Logic-managed communities only. |
| Invite people to join | Higher Logic-managed communities only. |
| Place restriction on members | "Restricted Members" are blocked from participating in community discussions. However, while the restriction is in place, they can still read discussions and participate in other community activities. |
| Remove restriction from Restricted Members | Rescind the above "restriction." |
| Grant & remove Community Admin access | |
| Create Community Types | See Community Types. |
| Create communities | By default, only Super Admins can create communities. Super Admins can configure Community Types to give other users the ability to create communities. |
| Create & assign Topic Community | Super Admins only. See Topic Communities. |
| Moderate users | Super Admins only. |
| Moderate community Discussions & Libraries | |
| Approve & reject moderated Discussion posts | |
| Approve & reject moderated Library entries | |
| Create email templates | Super Admins only. |
| Create & edit community events | |
| Manage the event Payment Provider | |
| Create community announcements | |
| Create & edit community Volunteer Opportunities | |
| Order & structure Libraries and folders | |
| Modify & delete Library Entries and transfer ownership of Entries | |
| Download the community roster | Super Admins can lock this ability from Site Admins. |
| Run community reports | Super Admins can restrict Community Admins' ability to export report data. If a member hides personal data (e.g., email address) on their profile, it is visible to Super Admins but not Community Admins who are subject to members' profile privacy settings. |
Content
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below, for any community.
- Community Admins can perform many of the actions listed below (as indicated), for their community only.
- Site Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
TIP: Actions that are listed in bold type can be performed by Super Admins and Community Admins.
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Create & manage events | Edit discussion posts |
| Delete discussion posts | Tag discussion posts |
| Edit library entries | Delete library entries |
| Edit library comments | Delete library comments |
| Tag library entries | Edit blog articles |
| Delete blog articles | Edit blog comments |
| Delete blog comments | Tag blog articles |
User management
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
- Site Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Activate & deactivate user accounts | Reset account passwords |
| Create & manage profile demographics | Moderate users |
Account deactivations notes
If a user's account is deactivated:
- the user cannot log in to the community site; a Super Admin can reactivate user accounts.
- in a Higher Logic-managed community, the user's record in your database is not affected.
Tools & Features
- Super Admins can perform all of the actions listed below.
- Community Admins cannot perform any of the actions listed below.
- Site Admins can perform one of the actions listed below:
- Create site ads
| Actions | Actions |
|---|---|
| Create & manage Automation Rules | Create & manage ribbons and badges |
| Manually give users ribbons and badges | Manage Microsites |
| Create & manage Formal Tags | Impersonate users |
| Create & manage Terms & Conditions | Create site ads |
| Create discussion-specific ads | Run site-level reports |