Quick Start (vs 1.0.0)

Step 1: Elementor install #

Access Manager for Elementor (AME) requires Elementor to be installed and activated. Elementor Pro is optional, but highly recommended to get the most out of your page building experience.
For more details on Elementor and Elementor Pro please visit https://elementor.com/

Step 2: AME install #

Install and activate Access Manager for Elementor

Step 3: AME License key activation #

Go to the AME settings page located at WP Admin -> Elementor -> Access Manger -> tab: License
Click on the license tab and enter your license key that you received at the time of purchase. In order to receive the latest updates, your license key needs to be activated.

Step 4: Excluding Roles and Users #

By default Access Manger for Elementor access settings apply to all users that are not admins. _{^{(this may change in future updates)}}
This option allows you to exclude a role or user _^(non-admin) from being affected by any AME restriction settings. Excluded roles or users will revert back to Elementor’s default settings and behavior.

Example: You have a user called Client_A and another called Client_B with an Editor role. With AME any restriction setting will apply to both Client_A and Client_B. If you want to remove Client_A from being affected by any restriction setting, you can add them to the excluded list and Client_A will revert back to Elementor’s default behavior based on the settings you applied within Elementor. _{^{(see image below)}}

To exclude users and roles:

• Go to WP Admin -> Elementor -> Access Manger -> tab: User Manager -> section: Excluded Roles and Users
• Click on the “Excluded user roles” input box choose a role from the drop down list. (You can exclude as many roles as you want.)
• Click the “Exclude users” input box and choose a user from the drop down list. (You can exclude as many users as you want.)
• Click Save Changes

Step 5: Page/post editing access settings #

With AME you have the option to restrict editing access to any page/post within any post type and even Elementor templates. If your client is restricted they will not be able access the page to edit with Elementor or even the WordPress default editing page.
You have the option to set access settings for each individual page/post, or you can use the global settings to set access settings for every page within a post type.

5a : Setting access to all pages/post (Global settings)

• Go to WP Admin -> Elementor -> Access Manger -> tab: General -> section: Global page editing restrictions

This will show a list of Elementor supported post types (please see Elementor settings for post type support).
You have an option to lock or unlock editing access to all pages/post within the post type on the global level.
For example if you lock the “Pages” post type then all pages within the post type will be restricted from editing access from your client (any non admin user). You can over ride any global setting at page level, meaning if the “Pages” post type is globally locked you can navigate to any page within the “Pages” post type and unlock it which will allow access to just that page. _{^{(see section 5b)}}

5b: Setting editing access to a page/post individually
To set access settings to a page or post within any post type, simply navigate to the page in the post type edit page and lock or unlock the page on an individual bases.
A yellow border around the lock icon indicates the page/post are synced on the global level. Meaning any changes made globally ^{_{(see section 6a)}} will effect these pages.
To override the global setting simply click the lock icon to lock or unlock the page/post. Doing so the yellow global indicator border will be removed and will un-sync the page from the global settings. The page/post will no longer be effected by any global setting changes.
To re-sync the page/post with the global settings simply hover over the lock icon and click the re-sync button. The border will turn yellow indicating the page/post are re-synced at the global level.

Note: There are more way to set access control on individual pages and post, but they are covered in detail outside the quick start guide.

Step 6: Elementor simplified editor UI (Editor settings restrictions) #

AME makes it easy by automatically removing any UI elements and settings from the Elementor editor so that the client has a simplified editing experience without the risk of breaking the design layout. For example items such as ‘Site settings’ and ‘History’ are automatically removed from the UI in effort to prevent the user from breaking the page or site.
However, there are a few items that are optional and as an admin you have an option to show or hide the settings from your client.

The settings that are available to restrict optionally are:

• Page Settings : By default if you allow page settings to be accessed by your client on a page they will only be able to edit the “Featured Image” and the page background settings. All other settings within page settings could potentially break the design or clients should not need access to.
  If you restrict page settings then the client will not access to the page settings panel.
• Save Draft: If you restrict this otion then the client will not be able to save the page as draft.
• Save template: If you restrict this option then the client will not be able to save the page as a template.

These settings can be set at the global level or at each individual page level.

6a : Editor settings restrictions (Global)
Go to WP Admin -> Elementor -> Access Manger -> tab: General -> section: Global Elementor editor restrictions
Each setting can be restricted globally which will restrict the settings for every page/post for all post types. You can override the global setting at the page level. _{^{(see section 6b)}}

6b : Editor settings restrictions (page level)
To restrict editor settings at the page level open up any page in the Elementor editor and activate AME. Once activated open up the AME editor settings panel. (see step 7).
The editor restrictions settings will only be visible if the page/post is not restricted. If the page is not restricted you will see a section called “Editor restriction settings“.
If a setting is globally synced you will see a yellow border around the lock icon. This means any change made at the global level will effect that setting for the page. To change or un-sync from the global level simple lock or unlock the setting. The yellow border will be removed and a global re-sync icon will appear. This means the setting will no longer be effected be any global changes.
To re-sync with the global settings simple click the re-sync button and the yellow border will appear indicating it is synced at the global level.

Step 7: Activating AME in the Elementor editor #

By default, AME is not activated in the Elementor editor. This allows you to complete your design without it being intrusive. Turn it on only when needed to set access control for your layout.

To activate AME:

• Within the Elementor editor, open the settings panel and click on the upper left icon (hamburg icon) to open up the settings panel.
• Click the activation toggle switch on the Access Manager tab.

Tip: Clicking the Access Manager menu item while activated will open the settings panel for AME.

Step 8: AME page settings panel #

The page setting panel for AME allows you to set page specific access settings.

To open AME page settings panel:

• Activate AME for the editor _{^{(see section 7)}}
• Click the gear icon to open the settings panel. The gear icon will only be visible when AME is activated.

8a: Page restriction settings (AME page settings panel)
With the AME settings panel open you will see a settings section called “General Settings” _{^{(future updates will have more options within this section)}} In this section you can control client editing access to the page by locking or unlocking the page.
A yellow border around the lock icon indicates the setting is synced with the global settings for the current post type. _{^{(see section 5 for more details on global settings)}}
Clicking a setting that is synced will un-sync the settings with the global settings and will not be affected by the page restriction global settings.
To re-sync with the global settings simply click the re-sync button and the yellow border will once again show indicating the settings is synced on the global level.

8b: Editor settings restrictions (AME page settings panel)
If the page is not restricted then you will also see a settings section called “ Editor settings restrictions” that contains the page level access controls for different editor settings and features.
To learn more about these settings please visit section 6b

Step 9: Turn on Elementor editing handles #

In order to set access settings to Elementor elements, you need to turn on the Editing handles within the Preferences panel.
Activating this setting will allow you to see the lock icons for each element in the layout as seen in the next step.

To activate Editing handles:

• On the same panel as the Access Manager activation, click the User Preferences menu item
• Find the Editing handles setting and activate.

Step 10: Setting access control on Elementor elements #

Access control can be set for any element in the layout within the Elementor editor. Sections, columns, containers and any widget, example headings, images, text….

To set access control on an element:

• Hover over the element and click the lock icon within the editing handles for that element.
• Locked is restricted – User will not be able to access this element or its settings.
• Unlocked is unrestricted – User will have default access set within Elementor.

Tip: Everything works in a parent to child relationship. To help speed up the process of setting restrictions, you can double click any parent element lock and it will set the restriction for the parent and all its children elements. Example using the image above: If you double click the unlocked section restriction lock, the section will lock as well as the column and the image. If you double click a parent with a locked icon (restricted) then that parent will unlock (unrestricted) and all its children will become unrestricted.

10a: Using the Navigator to set restriction settings
You can also use the Elementor navigator to set help set restrictions on elements within the layout. When the navigator is opened you will see lock icons next to each element. These locks work in the same way the editing handle locks work. You can also use the same parent to child locking and unlocking process as described above. The navigator also provides a master lock and unlock for the entire layout. Clicking the master lock (restriction) icon will lock every element on the page and clicking the master unlock icon will un-restrict every element on the page.

Tip: If you only want to allow access to a few elements on the page, simply use the master lock to lock (restrict) the entire layout and then unlock (un-restrict) just the elements you want to allow editing access.

Step 11: Setting access control on element settings #

AME gives you the control to restrict any settings/control for any element on the page. The client/user will only see the settings they are allowed to edit for that element.

Setting control restrictions (note: everything works in a parent child relationship)

• Click on any element on the page to open the settings panel and all the controls for the element.
• Every setting has a lock icon that allows you to lock or unlock a setting from editing access.
• Clicking the master locks (parent) will lock or unlock all the settings (children) on that panel.
• Clicking a tab (parent) lock will lock or unlock the tab along with all the settings (children) for that tab.
• Clicking a settings section lock (parent) will lock all the settings for that section along with all the settings (children) in that section.
• Clicking any individual setting will lock or unlock just that setting.
  

Step 12: Theme parts, templates, and globals #

All theme builder sections (ex. headers, footers, page….) , templates sections, and globals all retain any restriction settings applied to them.
In other words, if you create a template section and applied restriction settings to some of the elements within that template, those restriction settings will apply when you add that template to a layout.

12a: Templates – Templates will retain all restriction setting applied.
Note: If restriction settings within a template later change, it will not update all instances of that template. Please see globals for that type of behavior.

12b: Globals – Global elements also retain all restriction settings applied and will also update all instances of that global if restriction settings change.
Example: You create a global element such as a heading and only allow the user the change the text of the heading and not any other setting, then add that global to numerous locations within your website. Everywhere that global was added, the user (client) will only be able to change the text as originally set when the global was created. If you decide you want the user to be able to change the color, simply edit the global restriction settings to allow the user to change the color. Once you do that, the restriction setting will update for all instances of that global within your website.

12c: Theme parts (Headers, footers…) – Theme parts, such as headers, also retain all restriction settings. You also have the option to restrict a user (client) from accessing the template from the edit page. Theme sections such as headers and footers can be accessed within the editor, but with AME you can prevent users (clients) from accessing and editing theme parts.

How to restrict a theme part:

• Go to the WP admin- > Templates -> Theme Builder -> (Switch to table view)
• Locate the template you want to restrict and lick the lock icon.

• Alternate method: Within the Elementor editing page, hover over the template part and click the restriction icon lock in the editing handles (Access Manager must be activated).

This quick start guide is only an example of the main features of Access Manager for Elementor in order for you to get started using the plugin.
For more in depth details, please visit our knowledge base coming soon.

Thank you for trying Access Manager for Elementor and please contact david@accessmanagerelementor.com for questions and feedback.