This page is for editors: people who write, edit and publish content. Many installations give them the Editor, an interface of its own that looks like the administration but shows only what writing and publishing need: the dashboard, the content and the media library. Administrators use the administration instead; both are parts of the same installation and work on the same content.
The address
The Editor has its own address. Which one depends on how your site is set up; your administrator tells you. The usual forms are:
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| A path after the site's address | https://www.example.com/editor |
| A host name of its own | https://edit.example.com |
Every page of the Editor needs a signed-in user: whatever address of it you open, you see the sign-in form first.
Bookmark the address in your browser, so you never have to look for it again.
Sign in
- Type your Username. Most sites also accept the e-mail address of your account in this field.
- Type your Password. The eye button in the field shows what you typed, to check it; press it again to hide it.
- Press Sign in (or Enter).
The line under the title names the part of the installation you are signing in to, for example Administration of Editor.
If your account uses two-step sign-in, a second page follows: Confirm it is you. Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app (or from the e-mail the site sent; the code is also in its subject line) and press Verify and sign in. Spaces in the code are fine; each code works once. After too many wrong codes the sign-in ends, and you start again with your password. Setting it up is explained in Your account and signing in.
Your first sign-in
An administrator creates your account in the Editors group and gives you the address, your username and a temporary password (the password by a second way, such as a phone call). At your first sign-in the site asks you to replace the temporary password before anything else: enter it as the current password, choose your own, and confirm once more with the temporary one. Every step, with screenshots, is in Setting up accounts for editors and administrators. What your account then allows is described in What the Editor role allows.
After signing in
The Editor opens on its Dashboard: a greeting with your name, buttons to Content structure and the Media library, your numbers (drafts, pending items) and the latest content.
From here everything in A tour of the administration applies: the tree, the item pages, the edit form. What you may open and change is decided by your role (usually Editor): an editor sees fewer tabs and buttons than an administrator, and pages for settings, users and the system are not there.
In the right column, Interface language chooses the language of the menus and buttons for you; see Languages.
When signing in does not work
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The system could not log you in. Make sure that the username and password is correct. | Check the spelling and the caps lock key: letters must be entered in the correct case. Try your e-mail address instead of the username. |
| ... is not allowed to log in because failed login attempts by this user exceeded allowable number of failed login attempts! | The site locks an account after a number of wrong passwords. Ask an administrator to reset the failed sign-ins of your account. |
| Access denied! You do not have permission to access ... | Your account is right, but your role may not use this part of the installation. Ask an administrator. |
| The page asks for a user name and password in a small browser window, before the site appears | Some test and staging servers are protected by an extra browser password. It is not your Exponential account; ask whoever gave you the address. |
| You are sent back to the sign-in form after signing in | Your browser blocks cookies for the site. Allow cookies for it (signing in needs one), or try a private window to rule out an extension. |
Forgot your password?
- On the sign-in page, choose Forgot your password?.
- Enter the e-mail address of your account and press Generate new password.
- Open the mail you receive and follow its link. The link works once and, by default, for one hour; the mail says how long. Opening it gives your account a new password, which a second mail sends you.
- Sign in with it and change it at once under Change password.
The page answers the same whether or not an account has that address. No mail after a few minutes? Check the spam folder, and make sure you used the address of your account. A link opened too late says This link has expired.; ask for a new one.
Staying signed in and signing out
You stay signed in while you work. A sign-in belongs to one browser and to this part of the installation: being signed in to the Editor does not sign you in to the administration or the public site, and the other way round. A session that is not used for a long time (three days with the shipped settings) ends, and you sign in again.
To sign out, press the last button of the header, an arrow leaving a box (Logout). While an item is open for editing it is grayed out: store or discard your draft first. Always sign out on a shared computer.
Keep your account safe
- Use your own account, never a shared one, so that your work carries your name and the version history and the audit trail tell who did what.
- Use a long password that you use nowhere else; a password manager remembers it for you. The site refuses short and well-known passwords.
- Turn on two-step sign-in: your password alone is then useless to anyone else. See Your account and signing in.
- Never send your password by e-mail or chat, not even to an administrator; nobody needs it.
Learn more
- Getting started
- Your account and signing in
- Logging into the admin, for administrators
- Setting up accounts for editors and administrators, for administrators
- Managing members
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