Set up your team

What you'll learn

A team in Uwazi is the set of people who work in your instance. As an admin, you decide who joins, what each person can do, and which content they can reach. We'll add a user, group people together, and share an entity with them. By the end of this tutorial, we'll have a working team that can see and edit the content we choose.

Prerequisites

• A link to a live Uwazi instance
• An admin username and password for that instance

Only an admin can add users, assign roles, and manage groups. If you don't see the Settings menu, ask your instance manager for access.

Part 1: Create a user

A user is one person's account in your instance. We'll create one and give it a role. The role decides what that person can do.

1. Go to Settings, then select Users & Groups.

   The page opens on the Users tab and lists the accounts you already have.

2. Select Add user.

   A side panel opens with the title New user.

3. Type a name in the Username field, such as amal.haddad.

   The name can't contain spaces. Uwazi marks a duplicate name with an error.

4. Open the User Role drop-down and pick a role.

   The drop-down starts on Collaborator. The next step explains each choice.

5. Type the person's address in the Email field.

   Uwazi sends the welcome email to this address, so check it carefully.

6. Leave the Password field blank.

   The new user sets their own password from the welcome email, so we don't need to choose one.

7. Select Save.

   A confirmation modal opens and asks for your own current password.

8. Type your password and confirm.

   Uwazi creates the account and sends a Welcome email with a link to set a password. The new user appears in the table.

Each role gives a different level of access. This table shows what each one can do:

What they can do	Admin	Editor	Collaborator
Create entities and upload documents	Yes	Yes	Yes
See and edit every entity	Yes	Yes	No
See and edit only shared entities	No	No	Yes
Share entities with the public	Yes	Yes	No
Manage users, settings, and templates	Yes	No	No

Admins and editors reach every entity. A collaborator reaches only the entities they create, the entities we share with them, and the public ones. That's why sharing matters, and we'll set it up in Part 3.

Part 2: Create a group

A group is a named set of users. Sharing with a group shares with everyone in it, so we don't have to add people one by one. We'll create one and add a member.

1. On the Users & Groups page, select the Groups tab.

   The tab lists the groups you already have.

2. Select Add group.

   A side panel opens with the title New group.

3. Type a name in the Name field, such as Research team.

   The name must be unique. Uwazi marks a duplicate name with an error.

4. Open the Members selector and pick the user from Part 1.

   The selector lists every user by username. Your chosen member shows as selected.

5. Select Save.

   Uwazi saves the group, and it joins the list. Group changes don't need a password.

Part 3: Share an entity

Sharing gives a user or group access to one entity. We'll open an entity and share it, so a collaborator can finally see it.

1. Go to the Library and open an entity, then select Share.

   A modal opens and lists who can already reach this entity.

2. Notice the Administrators and Editors row at the top.

   This row always has edit access, and we can't change it. Admins and editors reach every entity already.

3. Type a name in the Add people or groups search box.

   note

   Uwazi finds a user only by their full, exact username or email. It finds a group by the start of its name.

4. Select the user or group from the results.

   Uwazi adds them to the list with Can see access.

5. Open the access drop-down on their row and pick Can edit.

   The row now shows Can edit, so this person can change the entity, not only view it.

6. Select Save changes.

   Uwazi saves the access and closes the modal. The user or group can now reach this entity.

What you've done

• Created a user and sent them a welcome email
• Assigned a role that sets what the user can do
• Built a group and added a member
• Shared an entity with a user or group
• Gave a collaborator access to content they couldn't see before

tip

To share the same entity with your whole team at once, share it with the group instead of each user. Anyone you later add to the group gets the same access.

Next steps

• How to manage users and groups — add, edit, and remove users and groups from Settings
• How to share your content — share entities, publish them, and make your instance public
• Permissions by role — what each role can and can't do
• How permissions and sharing work — the model behind roles, groups, and access