One useful feature for Joomla site builders is the ability to create new admin menus.
This is a very handy feature for sites with multiple users. Instead of trying to manipulate the permissions for some users, you can simply give them a different set of menu links.
In this example, I'll show you how to make an admin menu that only shows for the Administrator user group. We also have a tutorial on creating custom administrator modules in Joomla.
Step #1. Create an Administrator menu
- Go to Menus > Manage > Add New Menu.
- Enter a Title for the menu. Choose something accurate, such as "Publisher Menu".
- Set the Client to Administrator.
- Save the menu.
- You'll now see that the menu appears in the admin bar. The dropdown is divided into Site and Administrator.
Step #2. Add menu links
The next step is to create the links that our Publishers will use.
- Go to Menus > Publisher Menu > Add New Menu Item.
- Create the links that your Publisher users will have access to.
- In this example, I'm creating a Content link that will lead to a list of all the articles.
Step #3. Create the user and permissions
Now we're going to create a user and give them the correct permissions.
- Go to Users > Manage > Add New User.
- Create a user in the "Publisher" user group:
- Notice the Advanced Permissions Report link? That's also new in Joomla 3.7. It will give you an overview of what this user can and cannot do.
- The most important permissions are in System > Global Configuration > Permission. We need to make sure that our user is allowed the Administrator Login and Access Administration Interface permissions.
Step #4. Create the Menu module
Now we're going to place the new administrator menu, using a module.
- Go to Extensions > Modules.
- Choose Administrator from the drop-down options:
- Click New.
- For the menu type, choose Administrator Menu:
- For the Position option, choose Menu.
- For the Access option, choose Publisher.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Choose your menu under Menu to Show.
- Set Check Menu to No. This will stop Joomla from showing warnings about important menu links not being in your administration menu.
- Save your new menu.
- To avoid conflicting with the normal administrator menu, I would recommend editing the Admin Menu module and setting the Access option to Super User.
Step #5. Test your new setup
- Log out as the administrator.
- Log in as your new user. The image below shows what the Publisher user group will see:
You probably won't get everything set up perfectly the first time, but with a little bit of testing, you are now able to create a great admin experience for your users.
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