User Lists

The User List object has two modes, Access Control and Mailing List.

Access Control mode lets you apply security to your website, either to restrict access to specific pages or to control user access to forums, blogs, and CMS objects. You can create a simple user list, or specify varying levels of access via the use of user groups. A single User List in Access Control mode can be used to provide all page security and access to all relevant smart objects.

Mailing List mode enables you to create an object that can enable website visitors sign up to newsletters, party confirmations, information requests, and so on. The lists can be controlled manually or by self-subscription.

In the screenshots below we've used a fictitious sports centre, called WellBeing, as an example.

Creating a User List (Access Control) object

1. At the bottom of the My Smart Objects Library pane, click New...

2. In the Create Smart Object dialog, click User List.
   
   

3. Click OK.

4. In the dialog, click Access Control.

5. In the rightmost Style pane:

5. Click Create. Your named User List is listed in the Smart Objects Library.

To edit your User List object

1. Select it in the Smart Objects Library pane, and click Edit.

2. Make your changes and click Save.

To delete your User List object

• Select it in the Smart Objects Library pane, and click Delete.

Back to top

Access Control mode

Access control is based around a user list (i.e. a complete list of users who are registered on your site) and one or more user groups. Users can be added to the user list in two ways:

• Automatically - when a visitor registers or signs up on your site or forum.

• Manually - by adding a user in the Manage dialog. This is most useful when you want to restrict access to certain pages on your site and you have a dedicated list of people to add immediately.

Managing the User List

1. From the My Smart Objects Library pane, select your named User List.
   
   

2. Click Manage at the bottom of the pane.

To change Signup and Login settings

1. On the Users tab, in the Signup and Login pane, change the following settings to control how your access control behaves when users signup or login.

2. CAPTCHA enabled: (Optional) Select this  option to add an anti-span control to your login object.

3. Enable signups to User List: (Optional, selected by default) Enables website visitors to automatically create an entry in the User List upon signup.

4. Redirect after login: (Optional) Enter the new website URL.

2. Click Update to apply any changes.

Managing users

When you first create your User List object, on the Users tab, the Users pane will contain a single user—this is your Serif Web Resources login email address.

To manually add a user to the User List

1. On the Users tab, in the Add New User pane, type the user's email address into the Email box.
   
   
   
   With Require activation checked, an activation link will be emailed to the user along with an auto-generated password. When unchecked, only an auto-generated password will be emailed.
   
   With Email User checked, an email will be sent to the user; if unchecked, no email is sent but the user is added. The password needs to be communicated to the user via other means (telephone or verbally).

2. Click Add User. The user is added to the list in the Users section.

To amend user activation settings

1. On the Users tab, in the User Control pane, select the user you wish to amend in the Email drop-down list.

2. To verify the user's email address, click Resend Activation Mail to send a copy of the original activation email to the user. (The user will be activated upon clicking the activation hyperlink in the email.)
   
   OR
   
   Click Activate to activate the user immediately. No email confirmation will be sent.

Managing groups (manual of self-registration)

Once you've created your Smart object, you can create and associate user groups to it using the Manage feature.

To create user groups

1. In the Manage {User List name} dialog, click the Groups tab.
   
   

2. In the Create New Group section, enter a Group Name; this should reflect how the group is intended to be used, e.g. "Photoaccess".
   
   

3. Click the Create Group button, verify dialog settings, then click Done. The group will be added to the Group drop-down menu.

To manually assign users to a group

1. On the Groups tab, ensure that your new group is selected.

2. To add users one at time, in the Users section, click to select a user name from the list. Click Add.
   
   OR
   
   To add all users in the list, click Add All.

3. Once added to the group, the users appear in the group list. Click Exit.

If configured, you can make users sign up by themselves, avoiding the need to manually add and manage every user as described above.

To enable self-registration user sign-up

1. In the Manage {User List name} dialog, click the Groups tab.

2. Select an existing group from the Group drop-down list, and click Manage Group.

3. Check Add new users on signup—the user's login details on sign up will be added to the user group during registration. When checked, the sign in process allows access to all groups that are "sign up enabled", otherwise restricted pages will be protected.

4. Click Update Group and then Done.

Back to top

Advanced user control

Some additional features allow you to import/export, suspend, and ban/unban users within user groups. A banned user is banned globally (access to all User Groups is prevented).

Importing and Exporting usernames

A large number of users can be quickly added to your site by importing a CSV file containing a list of email addresses only. Such a list can be exported from many email clients and created with various spreadsheet programs.

To import a user list from a text file:

1. Click the Import/Export tab in the Manage {User List name} dialog.

2. In the Import Users section, click the Browse... button to locate an existing text file which contains comma-delimited usernames (as email addresses). Select the file and click Open.  

3. Click the Import button to populate the Users tab, Users list with the file's contents.

Passwords are generated for each username, and are emailed out to each user (along with an activation link if the Require activation option is checked).

To export users to a text file

1. Click the Import/Export tab in the Manage {User List name} dialog.

2. From the dialog's Export Users section, choose a file format for export in the Save As drop-down menu.

3. Click Save. You can either view the export file immediately (Open) or save to a file (Save) from the dialog.

Suspending and banning users

Any user can be deleted or temporarily suspended for breaking site rules (e.g., for posting defamatory statements on a hosted public forums). The next time the user tries to log on the message "Your account has been suspended" is displayed.

If more drastic action is required, a user's IP address can be banned from accessing Serif Web Resource objects (e.g., forums, etc.). As a last resort, even the ISP or organization to which the owner of the email address belongs to can be banned from access. This latter option is not recommended normally but may be necessary to prevent institutional malpractice such as professional spamming.

To suspend a user

1. Click the Bans tab in the Manage {User List name} dialog.

2. Under User Control, select the user from the Email drop-down list.

3. Click Suspend User.

Note: Suspended users will be shown with an asterisk in the Manage {User List name} dialog's Users list.

To reactivate a suspended user

• As above, but click Unsuspend User.

To ban a user(s)

• by IP address: As above, but select IP address from the Ban User's drop-down list, then click the Ban button.

• by ISP/Organization: As above, but first click the Lookup User button (this locates the user's ISP/organization network address in the scrolling window above the button) then select ISP/organization from the drop-down list, then click the Ban button.  

To unban a user(s)

1. Select a specific IP address (for an individual user) or network IP address (for ISP/organization) from the Unban drop-down list. A specific IP address will end with a number other than zero (e.g., 80.6.91.234), whereas a network address for an ISP/organization will always ends with zero (e.g., 80.6.91.0). The entry will also include the date the address was banned.

2. Click the Unban button. The IP address will be removed from the list.

Back to top

Page Security

You can use access control to apply security to other pages of your site, such as those containing confidential information. If you have several pages to protect, why not add an access control login object to your master page?

To apply page security

1.  With the web page currently in view, click   Page Security on the Default context toolbar.   
   
   OR
   
   Right-click the page in the Site tab, and choose Page Properties..., then select the Page Security tab.

2. Check Protect page with password to enable access control. You'll notice that the Change/Manage button becomes active. Click this button to reveal currently available user groups (in bold) and the User List Smart object to which they belong.
   
   

3. From the User Groups dialog, select the user group, e.g. Photoaccess, then click OK. Your page's Page Security tab should show that the page is password protected and that the user group has been assigned.
   
   

4.  Click OK, then OK again to exit the dialogs.

Adding a login box to a web page

1. Open the site master page on which you want to insert your User List object.
   
   

2. Log into Serif Web Resources, select your User List in the Smart Objects Library.

3. Click Insert.

4. To insert the Access Control object at default size, position the cursor where you want the object to appear on the page, then click the mouse.
   
   - or -
   
   Click and drag on your page to set the size of the Access Control object.

Back to top

Mailing List mode

Allow your website visitors to sign up to newsletters, party confirmations, information requests, and more, with a mailing list object. Like the Access Control user list, the mailing lists can be controlled manually or by self-subscription.

Create a Mailing List

1. At the bottom of the My Smart Objects Library pane, click New...

2. In the Create Smart Object dialog, click User List.
   
   

3. Click OK.

4. In the next dialog, click Mailing List.

5. In the rightmost Style pane, type a name for the resource.

6. Optional: If required, to prevent others from embedding your resource into their websites, type your domain URL into the Filter Offsite text box.

7. Click Create. Your named User List is listed in the Smart Objects Library.
   
   

To manually add users to your mailing list, follow the steps in To manually add a user to the User List.

To import/export users, follow the steps in Importing and Exporting User Lists.

Add your Mailing List object to a web page

You can allow your users to sign up to your mailing list by adding the mailing list object to your master page?

1. Open the site mater page on which you want to insert your User List object.
   
   

2. Log into Serif Web Resources, select your User List in the Smart Objects Library.

3. Click Insert.

4. To insert the Mailing List object at default size, position the cursor where you want the object to appear on the page, then click the mouse.
   
   OR
   
   Click and drag on your page to set the size of the Mailing List object.

Back to top