Adding & Removing Users on Yola

Yola is a hosted website builder that uses a single-account ownership model. Each Yola website is tied to one account, and the platform has limited multi-user collaboration features compared to enterprise CMS platforms. User management focuses on the account owner, any white-label reseller sub-accounts, and e-commerce store customers.

How Yola User Management Works

Yola's user model is simple:

• Account Owner -- The Yola account holder who creates and manages the website. Has full control over content, design, settings, domain, and billing.
• Reseller Sub-Accounts (Yola for Professionals / White-Label) -- If you use Yola's reseller program, you can create sub-accounts for clients who manage their own websites under your brand.
• Online Store Customers -- Shoppers who create accounts during checkout on Yola-powered e-commerce sites.

Yola does not offer traditional team collaboration features (like inviting editors or contributors) on standard consumer plans. The website is managed by a single account.

Adding Users (Account-Level)

Creating a New Yola Account

Since each Yola website is tied to one account, adding a "user" typically means creating a new account:

1. Navigate to https://www.yola.com
2. Click Get Started or Sign Up
3. Enter email address and password
4. Verify the email address
5. The new account can create and manage its own websites

Sharing Access to an Existing Website

Yola does not have a native "invite collaborator" feature. To share access to a website:

Option 1: Share account credentials (not recommended for security reasons)

• Share the account email and password with the collaborator
• This gives them full access to everything, including billing

Option 2: Transfer the website to another Yola account

1. Contact Yola support to request a site transfer
2. Provide the target account's email address
3. Yola support processes the transfer (the site moves entirely to the new account)

Option 3: Export and re-import (for developers)

• Export the website's HTML/CSS files
• The collaborator works on the files locally and uploads changes

Reseller Sub-Account Creation

For Yola Professional (reseller/white-label) accounts:

1. Log in to the Yola reseller dashboard
2. Navigate to Clients or Sub-Accounts
3. Click Add Client
4. Enter the client's details:
   • Name and Email
   • Company name (optional)
5. Select the plan/features to allocate:
   • Number of websites allowed
   • Storage limits
   • E-commerce access
6. Click Create Account

The client receives login credentials for their white-label portal, where they can build and manage their own websites.

Adding Store Customers

For Yola websites with e-commerce enabled:

Customer Self-Registration

1. Ensure your Yola online store has customer accounts enabled:
   • Open the website in the Yola editor
   • Go to Store Settings > Customer Accounts
   • Enable Allow customer registration
2. Customers create accounts during the checkout process
3. Registered customers can:
   • View order history
   • Track shipping
   • Save addresses for future purchases

Managing Customers

1. In the Yola editor, navigate to your Online Store section
2. Click Customers in the store management panel
3. View, search, and manage customer accounts
4. Click on a customer to see their order history and details

Programmatic Customer Management

Yola does not provide a public REST API for customer management. All customer operations must be performed through the Yola editor's store management interface.

For developers who need to integrate customer data with external systems:

// Since Yola lacks a public API, maintain a parallel customer database
// Sync manually or use Yola's email notifications to trigger external workflows

// Example: Webhook receiver for order notifications (via Zapier or similar)
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.post('/webhook/yola-order', express.json(), (req, res) => {
  const { customerEmail, customerName, orderId, orderTotal } = req.body;

  // Sync to your CRM or external database
  console.log(`New order from ${customerEmail}: ${orderId} ($${orderTotal})`);

  // Add to your member tracking system
  trackCustomer({
    email: customerEmail,
    name: customerName,
    source: 'yola',
    firstOrder: new Date().toISOString(),
  });

  res.sendStatus(200);
});

function trackCustomer(customer) {
  // Push to your CRM, spreadsheet, or database
  console.log('Tracking customer:', customer);
}

app.listen(3000);

Bulk User Management

Limitations

Yola does not provide:

• CSV import/export for customers or users
• A public REST API for user management
• CLI tools or scripting interfaces
• Multi-user team invitations on consumer plans

All user management must be performed manually through the Yola dashboard or editor.

Workarounds for Bulk Operations

For reseller accounts with many sub-clients:

• Maintain a spreadsheet of all client sub-accounts with their email addresses, plan details, and creation dates
• Create accounts sequentially through the reseller dashboard
• Use a password manager to securely store credentials for each sub-account

For e-commerce stores with many customers:

• Export order data from Yola's store management (if export is available on your plan)
• Use email marketing integrations (Mailchimp, etc.) to maintain a customer list
• Process customer cleanup through the store management interface

Removing and Deactivating Users

Removing Reseller Sub-Accounts

1. Log in to the reseller dashboard
2. Navigate to Clients
3. Find the client account
4. Click Suspend or Delete:
   • Suspend -- Blocks the client from accessing their website builder. Their websites remain intact but are not editable.
   • Delete -- Permanently removes the client account and all their websites.
5. Confirm the action

Removing Store Customers

1. Open the Yola editor
2. Navigate to Online Store > Customers
3. Find the customer
4. Click Delete
5. Confirm

What happens to their data:

• Order history is preserved in the store management system for the account owner
• The customer can no longer log in or track orders
• Saved addresses and payment methods are removed
• Any email marketing subscriptions tied to the customer should be updated separately

Deactivating Without Deleting

Yola does not have a native "deactivate" toggle for customers. Options:

For reseller sub-accounts: Use the Suspend option instead of Delete. This blocks access while preserving all website data and configuration.

For store customers: There is no deactivation option. You can only fully delete the customer record.

Closing a Yola Account Entirely

If the account owner needs to close their Yola account:

1. Log in to the Yola dashboard
2. Go to Account Settings
3. Click Close Account (or contact Yola support)
4. This deletes all websites and data associated with the account
5. Active paid subscriptions must be cancelled before account closure

Important: Account closure is permanent. Export any content you want to keep before closing.

SSO and Enterprise Authentication

Yola does not support SAML, LDAP, OpenID Connect, or any enterprise SSO mechanism. Authentication uses Yola's built-in email/password system exclusively.

Available security features:

• Email-based password reset
• Session timeout for inactive users
• HTTPS for all dashboard and editor interactions

For organizations considering Yola:

• Yola is designed for small businesses and individual users
• There is no programmatic way to enforce password policies across multiple accounts
• For enterprise requirements (SSO, RBAC, audit logs), consider platforms like WordPress, Drupal, or a headless CMS

Access Audit Checklist

• Verify the account owner email and password are current and stored securely
• For reseller accounts: review all client sub-accounts quarterly for inactive or suspended accounts
• Check that no shared credentials are in use (each person should have their own Yola account)
• Review store customer accounts for test data from development
• Verify that the account owner's email is monitored (Yola sends important notifications there)
• For reseller programs: audit plan allocations to ensure clients have appropriate feature levels
• Document all account-level changes since Yola does not provide audit logs
• If using shared access (not recommended), change the password when team members depart