How to edit a website that isn't yours

Not sure how to grant contributor access to your website? Read this

If you're a content writer, web developer, or marketing specialist you'll likely come across a scenario where you need to edit other websites. But if the website isn't yours, how do you gain access to edit it?

By pulling a few permission levers in the back end it's a quick and easy process. In this post we'll show you how to access and edit the following websites:

Elementor: Managing user access

Elementor is a free website design plugin that runs on the Wordpress platform.

To give users access to Elementor, you first need to grant them access to Wordpress. Here's how.

From the Wordpress dashboard, navigate to Users > All Users. Then click on 'Add New'

Source: yoast.com

There are 4 different Wordpress user roles to choose from.

Administrator

Administors have the greatest privileges. They can create, edit and delete posts, add and remove plugins and even delete other users. Administrator access should only be granted to those you can confidently trust. A Wordpress administrator with malicious intentions can completely wipe out a website.

Editor

Editors can manage all the content creation of a Wordpress website. They can edit and publish all posts, even those of other users.

Author

Authors can only edit and publish their own posts, They're also unable to create new post categories so they can only publish posts within the existing category list. 

Besides their own posts, authors do not have access to any website settings like plugins and website design. 

Contributor

Contributors can only access their own posts but they cannot publish them. An user with at least Editor access needs to approve and publish Contributor posts.

Subscriber

A subscriber is basically a website member. To mitigate spam posting, some Wordpress websites require subscribers to log in to comment on posts.

Multiple contributors can access an Elementor website though any of the above privileges. The problem with this approach alone is that a poor understanding of how to use Elementor could lead to accidental web design changes.

The solution is to further restrict or liberate the privileges of each Wordpress user within Elementor's dedicated role manager. 

To do this navigate to the Elementor menu from the Wordpress dashboard and click on 'Role Manager'

From there you can set the Elementor permissions of each Wordpress user.

This will then allow you to specify the Elementor access level of all the different Wordpress user types.

Source: greengeeks.com

Once that's done, all Wordpress users that have been granted editing privileges in Elementor will be able to login and make changes to the website.

Wix: Managing user access

Wix website owners can grant access to multiple contributors by granting access through the roles and permission settings. Here's how you do it.

From the Wix dashboard, navigate to 'Roles and Permission', input the email of the contributor you want to invite, set their access level and you're done! 

The details of each role's access level is conveniently displayed in the roles list to prevent you from accidentally assigning an incorrect category.

Squarespace: Managing user access

To give contributors access to your Squarespace website, navigate to Settings > Permissions > invite contributor.

You'll then need to specify the access level of each contributor based on the following options:

You can read a detailed explanation of these different Squarespace permission levels here .

Once added, each contributor should automatically receive an email notifying them of their granted access to the Squarespace website.

You should see a list of all invited contributors under 'Invites sent'

If any of your invited contributors do not receive such an invite email, you can manually send them an invite link by clicking their contributor profile under Invites Sent and copying the Invitation link.

Final thoughts

The ability to grant website access to multiple contributors allows you to harness the talents of a wide range of freelancers to elevate your website to an elite level. Here is how freelancers can help you.

A freelance graphic designer  can help your website reflect your unique business branding with custom graphics. They can even design a logo that represents the core values of your business.

A freelance web developer  can help you modify your website design beyond the limitation of its drag and drop builder. They can also ensure all your website functions are implemented and running correctly so that your website is making you money like it should be.

A freelance content writer  can write website copy that resonates with the emotions of your visitors and compels them to slide down your sales funnel. 

A freelance SEO specialist  will establish an SEO strategy that will help you get discovered on the first page of Google.

A freelance SEM specialist  will keep all of your paid ad campaigns tight and efficient to maximize ROI.