Adding New Users to Edit Your Site

Before you can add a new user to your website, that person needs to attempt to log in to the site with their WUSTL Key. Though they will not actually be able to log in, this login attempt will create their WashU Sites user account, which then allows you to associate them with your specific site and grant them the proper access.

Instructions for the new user

Note: You must have a WUSTL Key in order to access WashU Sites.

1. Go to the website you wish to edit (e.g., sites.wustl.edu/example) and add /wp-admin/ to the end of the URL (e.g., sites.wustl.edu/example/wp-admin/)
2. Enter your WUSTL Key and password where prompted. You MUST use your WUSTL Key and not another alternate username.

Since you do not yet have access, you will receive an error message to contact your network administrator. However, this login attempt is an important step as it creates your WashU Sites user account, which allows the site admin to associate you with their specific site and grant you the proper access.

3. Notify the site owner that you’ve completed the first two steps.
4. Wait to hear back from the site owner that they’ve completed their steps (below).

Once the site owner has completed their steps, you should now be able to log in to the website using the URL from step 1 above (sites.wustl.edu/example/wp-admin/) and see the dashboard with all the available tools.

Instructions for the site owner

1. Wait to receive notice from the soon-to-be user that they’ve completed their part of the process (above).
2. From your site’s dashboard, go to Users > Add New.
3. In the field next to Email or Username, type in the new user’s full WashU email address or WUSTL Key.
4. Next to Role, select the role you would like to assign to the user from the dropdown menu.
   
   Learn about each role’s capabilities »

5. Click Add Existing User.
   1. You will know it was successful if you receive a message at the top of the page that says “User has been added to your site.”
   2. If you receive a message that says “The requested user does not exist,” please check with the user to verify that you have their correct email address or WUSTL Key.

Your new user should now be able to log in to the website and see all of the available tools in the dashboard, per whatever role you assigned to them.

We know it may seem weird that the button says “Add Existing User,” especially when you see an “Add New User” button right below that. When your new user logged in to your site for the very first time (see Instructions for the new user above), their WashU Sites user account was automatically created based on their WUSTL Key. So when you go to add your “new user,” you’re actually just associating an existing user to your specific site.

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