Understanding the differences between the user roles is an important component of operating eDirectory. Visitors are different from sponsors, and sponsors are not site managers. These terms may seem confusing at first. This article will clearly define the roles of each user.



Site Manager

The site manager is the administrator of the directory site. Site managers control the directory configurations, site design, have the ability to import and export data, as well as moderate the content. Site managers log in to the directory through a login page at [yourdomain.com]/sitemgr 


The site owner is called a "Site manager", and this person has a master site manager account, which means that with this account it is possible to create new site manager accounts and set permissions to them, so that they will be able to see only the features that the master site manager account set to them. It is customary for the site owner to need help from their staff in building the site, and providing them with accounts which have specific permission. Check this article to learn more about permissions: Creating Additional Sitemgr Accounts.



Sponsor


Sponsors are the owners of individual listings, events, classifieds, etc. They can create, claim listings, upload photos and other information, view their listing traffic, and pay for listings in the sponsor area located at [yourdomain.com]/sponsors/. The example below shows an example of what a sponsor sees when logging into the site, they are able to see their listings' activity report, reviews, leads, and also add new content to the site. 

 


Sponsors (listing owners) are able to create a sponsor account on either of these two scenarios:


1- By adding a new listing: When clicking on List with us and filling out the listing information:



When filling out the listing information and clicking on "Continue", the sponsor will be prompted to create a sponsor account:



2- By claiming their listings: When sponsors see their listings on the site, they will be able to click on the button "Claim it here!" to claim their listings:



They will be prompted to create a sponsor account:

Visitor


Visitors are the end users of the website, or in other words, they are the sponsors' clients, they view listings, add ratings and reviews. When a visitor signs up to add a review, they can create a profile, which can be publicly shared. Visitor profiles are linked from [yourdomain.com]/profile/. The example below shows an example of what a visitor sees when logging into the site, they are able to rate, review, and add listings their favorites: 



Visitors (sponsors' clients) are able to create a visitor account on one of these three scenarios:


1- By adding a review: when the visitors click to add a review to the listing, they will be prompted to create a visitor account:



Note: The visitor will only be prompted to register to the site if the option "Visitors need to login before posting reviews for listings" is checked on Settings → General settings:

 

2- By adding a listing to favorites: when the visitors click to add listings to their favorites, they will be prompted to create a visitor account:



3- By registering on the home page: when the visitors click on "Sing in" on the home page, they will be prompted to create a visitor account:



Attention: Both sponsors and visitors can sign in on the Home page of the site by clicking on "Sign in"
Site managers DO NOT sign in from the home page, only sponsors and visitors do.In order to access the site manager area of your website, it is necessary to access the specific site manager log in area, which is hidden from the users of the site. The way to access this area is by adding to the URL of your site, the extension /sitemgr 

If the URL of your site is www.test.com  for example, simply add /sitemgr to it.

www.test.com/sitemgr

When accessing this URL, this log in area will be displayed:




Note: Site manager accounts can manage all the three account types on the backend of the site. It is possible to check the accounts on User accounts:

Please, check this article to learn more about managing accounts from the backend of your site: eDirectory Accounts - Create / Manage Accounts