Managing Headquarters Users

Whether you're onboarding a new hire or adjusting access for someone already on your team, managing your Headquarters Users keeps everyone's SiteOwl access accurate and up to date.
 

In this article, you'll learn how to view your Headquarters Users, and how access actually works across Headquarters, Accounts, and Projects/Sites, so no one ends up stuck without the access they need.

Note: Only users with the HQ Administrator or HQ Coordinator role can manage Headquarters Users. If you don't see these options, reach out to your organization's administrator.
 

Before You Start: Access Is Layered

SiteOwl access works in three layers, and adding someone at one layer doesn't automatically carry over to the next:

• Headquarters — makes someone a Headquarters User, but on its own gives them no access to any specific Account, Project, or Site.
• Account — gives someone a role on an Account, but doesn't automatically give them access to every Project or Site under it.
• Project / Site — the most specific level, and the one that actually determines whether someone can open a given Project or Site.

This is the #1 cause of "why can't they see it?" tickets: adding someone to an Account feels like it should be enough. It isn't. If someone still can't access a specific Project or Site, check whether they've been added there individually, don't stop at the Account level.
 

Viewing Headquarters Users

1. Go to Users in the left-hand menu bar. This shows every user associated with your Headquarters.
2. Use Search, Role, or Status to narrow the list down.
3. Change a user's Role directly from the list by clicking the Role dropdown next to their name, no need to open their profile first.
4. Use the ••• menu next to a user's name to log out their active sessions, disable their account, or remove them entirely.

Giving a User Access to an Account

There are two ways to do this, and they lead to the same result. Use whichever fits how you're already working.

Option A: From the user's profile

1. From the Headquarters Users list, click a user's name.
2. On their profile, click the Accounts tab.
3. Click + Add Accounts, then search for and select the Account.
4. Once added, set their Project Role and Live Site Role for that Account from the same table.

Option B: From the Account's own Users list

1. Navigate into the Site or Project you want to grant access to.
2. Click the Users tab.
3. Click + Add Users, then search for an existing user by name or email.
4. Assign their role and confirm.

Note: Users with the HQ Administrator role automatically have access to every Account, so you won't need to add them individually, their Project Role and Live Site Role columns will simply show as unavailable for editing.

⚠️ Adding someone here does not give them access to a specific Project or Site. That's a separate step, see below.
 

Adding a Project to a User

1. From the Headquarters Users list, click the user's name.
2. Click the Projects tab to see their associated Projects.
3. Click + Add Projects.
4. Select from the list of available Accounts, then select the Project.
   • If you don't see the Account you're looking for, give the user access to that Account first.
5. Confirm to complete the process.
    

Alternatively, you can go directly to the Project itself, click its Users tab, and add them from there, same result either way.

Adding a Live Site to a User

If you license SiteOwl Live, you'll assign Sites to users the same way you assign Projects.

1. From the Headquarters Users list, click the user's name.
2. Click the Sites tab.
3. Click + Add Sites.
4. Select from the list of available Accounts, then select the Site(s) to assign.
   • If you don't see the Account you're looking for, give the user access to that Account first.
5. Confirm to complete the process.

A Few Things to Know

• You can manage a user's access from either their own profile or from the specific Account, Project, or Site itself, whichever is more convenient in the moment.
• HQ Administrators skip individual Account assignment entirely, since they already have access everywhere.
• If someone reports they can't see a Project or Site, this is almost always the fix: check the Users tab on that specific Project or Site, not just the Account.

What's Next

Not sure which role to assign someone? Check out [Managing User Roles & Account Assignments] for a full breakdown of what each role can do.

Need More Help?

If you have questions about this process or run into any issues, contact SiteOwl Support or visit the SiteOwl Help Center for more guides like this one.