Joomla provides a rich framework allowing users in different roles to contribute content. This tutorial explores three user roles—Author, Editor, and Publisher—and the permissions that govern them. Authors have permission to create and edit their own content; Editors have additional permissions to edit all articles; and Publishers have additional permissions allowing them to publish content to the site.

Prerequisites

• 1 Tutorial Introduction covers where to run your tutorial and administrative access.

Setup

Create an Article List Menu Item

This will give you a location on the frontend to create and edit articles.

1. In the Administrator Menu, click Menus > Main Menu.
2. Click New. Result: A new-menu-item form appears.
   • Title: Article List
   • Menu Item Type: Articles > Category List
   • Category: Uncategorised
   • Access: Registered — only logged-in, registered users will be able to see this menu item.
3. Save & Close

Create Two User Accounts

These will be used to examine the effects of different permissions (user roles).

1. In the Administrator Menu, click Users > Manage.
2. Click New. Result: A new-user form appears.
   • Name: Joe Bloggs
   • Login Name (Username): joe
   • Password/Confirm Password: make up a password.
   • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (fictitious; will not be used)
   • Click the Assigned User Groups tab, then tick Author (Registered and Author should both be ticked).
3. Click Save & New.
   • Name: Erika Mustermann
   • Login Name (Username): erika
   • Password/Confirm Password: make up a password.
   • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (fictitious; will not be used)
   • Click the Assigned User Groups tab, then tick Author (Registered and Author should both be ticked).
4. Save & Close

Steps

Logging in to the backend and the frontend are two separate things. You logged in to the backend of the site (the administrative area) to perform the setup, but you are not logged in to the frontend (public-facing side) of the site.

This tutorial will have you view the site (which opens a new tab), then log in to the frontend using the accounts you set up for Joe and Erika. When you do, you remain logged in to the backend with your administrator account in the first tab. Switching between the frontend and backend is just a matter of switching tabs, and you will not need to log in each time.

Users with Author, Editor, and Publisher accounts can log in to the frontend of the site; Administrators and Super Users can log in to both the frontend and the backend of the site.

Create an Article from the Frontend

1. Click View Site in the header. Result: The Article List menu item does not appear in the Main Menu (access was set for registered users).
2. Log in as Joe, using the username and password you created for that account. Result: The page refreshes; the login form is replaced by a friendly message with Joe's name and a Log out button, and the Article List link appears in the main menu.
3. Click Article List. Result: The article list is empty (there are no articles yet).
4. Click New Article.
   • Title: Dogs
5. Click Save & Close. Result: An alert notifies you that the article has been submitted. Note: New articles created by Authors are initially unpublished, and Authors don't have sufficient permissions to view unpublished content, so the article list remains empty.

Publish Joe's Article

1. Switch back to the backend, where you're logged in as an administrator, and click Content > Articles.
2. Click the Status icon next to the Dogs article. Result: The list refreshes and the status icon becomes a green checkmark.

Edit Joe's Article

1. Switch back to the frontend, where you're logged in as Joe, and refresh the page. Result: The Dogs article now appears, and you're free to view and edit it.
2. Edit the article and enter a few words into the body.
3. Create another article titled Fish. Note: As before, the article is submitted and unavailable until it's published.

Switch Users

1. Log out, then log in as Erika, using the username and password you created for that account.
2. On the Article List page, note that you can see Joe's published article. Result: You're able to view the article but not edit it.
3. Click New Article.
   • Title: Cats
4. Click Save & Close. Result: An alert notifies you that the article has been submitted. Note: New articles created by Authors are initially unpublished, and Authors don't have sufficient permissions to view unpublished content, so the article list remains empty.

Publish Erika's Article

1. Switch back to the backend, where you're logged in as an administrator, and click Content > Articles.
2. Click the Status icon next to the Cats article. Result: The list refreshes and the status icon becomes a green checkmark. Note: Do not publish the Fish article yet.

Edit Erika's Article

1. Switch back to the frontend, where you're logged in as Erika, and refresh the page. Result: The Cats article now appears, and you're free to view and edit it.
2. Edit the article and enter a few words into the body.

Authors can create articles and view all published articles, but can only edit their own articles.

The Editor User Role

1. Return to the backend and upgrade Erika to an Editor role.
   • Click Users > Manage.
   • Click Erika's profile to edit it.
   • Under the Assigned User Groups tab, uncheck Author and check Editor.
   • Click Save (don't close; you're coming right back).
2. Return to the frontend, where you're logged in as Erika, and refresh the Article List page. Result: The Fish article now appears as an unpublished item, along with Cats and Dogs.
3. As an Editor, you're able to edit any article. Edit the Fish article:
   • Add a few words to the body.
   • Click the Options tab. Result: The article status is Unpublished. Note: You're unable to change the status — clicking the dropdown does nothing.
   • Click Save & Close.

The Publisher User Role

1. Return to the backend and upgrade Erika to a Publisher role.
   • Under the Assigned User Groups tab, check Publisher.
   • Click Save & Close.
2. Return to the frontend, where you're still logged in as Erika.
3. Publish the Fish article:
   • Edit the article.
   • Click the Options tab and change Status to Published.
   • Click Save & Close.
4. Log out, then log in as Joe again.
5. Verify that you can see all three articles and can edit Dogs and Fish.

Permissions for Individual Articles

1. Return to the backend, click Content > Articles, then click Dogs to edit it.
2. Click the Permissions tab. Result: All of the permissions here are inherited from settings that apply to all articles — this is the default, and the other two articles are the same. The user groups appear on the left, and the selected group's permissions appear on the right.
3. Click Publisher. Result: Publishers can change the state (status) of an article to publish it, and they can edit the article.
4. Click Editor. Result: Editors are allowed to edit the article, but not its state. Note: When Erika was in the Editor role, she could edit any article, but not publish them.
5. Click Author. Result: Authors are not allowed to edit the article. Note: However, Joe and Erika (before becoming an Editor or Publisher) were able to edit their own articles — that permission is set at a higher level, in the settings for all articles.
6. As an administrator, you can override these inherited permissions when needed.
7. Click Close to close the article without saving.

Permissions for All Articles

1. From the Content > Articles list, click the Options button in the upper right.
2. Select Articles on the left to highlight it.
3. Click the Permissions tab. Result: The user groups appear on the left, and the permissions of the highlighted group appear on the right.
4. Click the Author group. Result: Authors are not allowed to edit articles generally (all articles), but they are allowed to Create and Edit Own, meaning they can create new articles and edit any articles they created. Note: This is the permission that allows Joe and Erika to edit their own articles.

Concepts

Joomla provides a basic framework for authors, editors, and publishers to collaborate on creating and publishing content.

The "Edit Own" permission is derived from settings that control all articles; viewing the permissions for a single article, where it appears that authors have no editing permissions, can be misleading.