Adding & Removing Users on Webnode

Webnode is a hosted website builder that uses a single-owner account model for website management. Unlike platforms with multi-user team features, Webnode ties each website to one account. Collaboration is handled through account sharing or the contributor features available on premium plans.

How Webnode User Management Works

Webnode's user model is account-centric:

• Account Owner -- The primary Webnode account holder who created the website. Has full control over the website editor, settings, domain, and billing.
• Contributors (Premium plans) -- Additional users who can edit specific sections of the website. Available on the Standard plan and above.
• Registered Members (Membership feature) -- Front-end users who create accounts to access protected content areas on your site.
• E-commerce Customers -- Shoppers who create accounts during the checkout process on Webnode stores.

The website editor is accessed at https://www.webnode.com/editor/ after logging in to your Webnode account.

Adding Contributors

Contributors can edit website content without having full admin access:

1. Log in to your Webnode account
2. Open the website in the editor
3. Click Settings in the top navigation
4. Navigate to Contributors (or Team depending on your plan)
5. Click Add Contributor
6. Enter the contributor's email address
7. Select their access level:
   • Content Editor -- Can edit text, images, and media on pages
   • Blog Editor -- Can create and manage blog posts
   • Store Manager -- Can manage products, orders, and inventory (e-commerce plans)
8. Click Invite

The contributor receives an email invitation. They log in through Webnode's standard authentication and see only the sections they have access to.

What Contributors Can and Cannot Do

Adding Registered Members (Membership)

For sites using Webnode's membership feature to gate content:

1. In the website editor, click the page you want to protect
2. Open Page Settings
3. Under Visibility, select Members only
4. Navigate to Settings > Membership to configure registration options:
   • Open registration -- Anyone can create an account
   • Approval required -- New registrations require admin approval
   • Invite only -- Disable public registration
5. To manually add a member:
   • Go to Settings > Members
   • Click Add Member
   • Enter their email address and name
   • Click Save

The member receives an email to set their password.

Membership Registration Form Customization

Webnode allows customizing the fields collected during membership registration:

1. Go to Settings > Membership > Registration Form
2. Add or remove fields:
   • Name (required)
   • Email (required)
   • Phone (optional)
   • Custom fields (text, dropdown)
3. Configure confirmation email text
4. Save changes

Bulk User Management

Limitations

Webnode does not provide:

• CSV import for contributors or members
• A public REST API for user management
• PowerShell or CLI tools for bulk operations

For bulk operations, you must add users one at a time through the admin interface.

Workaround for Bulk Member Addition

If you need to import many membership users, consider this approach:

1. Export your member list to a spreadsheet
2. For each member, manually add them through Settings > Members > Add Member
3. Or enable Open registration temporarily, share a registration link with your user list, and switch back to Invite only after they register

Tracking Members with External Tools

For organizations managing many members:

// Example: Track Webnode members in an external spreadsheet
// Since Webnode lacks a bulk API, maintain a parallel record

const memberList = [
  { email: 'member1@example.com', name: 'Member One', addedDate: '2026-01-15', status: 'active' },
  { email: 'member2@example.com', name: 'Member Two', addedDate: '2026-01-20', status: 'active' },
  { email: 'member3@example.com', name: 'Member Three', addedDate: '2026-02-01', status: 'pending' },
];

// Use this as your source of truth and sync manually with Webnode
function generateAuditReport(members) {
  const active = members.filter(m => m.status === 'active');
  const pending = members.filter(m => m.status === 'pending');
  const inactive = members.filter(m => m.status === 'inactive');

  console.log(`Active members: ${active.length}`);
  console.log(`Pending invitations: ${pending.length}`);
  console.log(`Inactive (to remove): ${inactive.length}`);

  inactive.forEach(m => {
    console.log(`  Remove from Webnode: ${m.email} (inactive since ${m.addedDate})`);
  });
}

generateAuditReport(memberList);

Removing and Deactivating Users

Removing Contributors

1. Go to Settings > Contributors in the editor
2. Find the contributor in the list
3. Click Remove next to their name
4. Confirm the removal

The contributor immediately loses access to the website editor. Their Webnode account remains active for their own websites.

Removing Registered Members

1. Navigate to Settings > Members
2. Find the member in the list
3. Click Delete or Remove
4. Confirm

What Happens to Their Content

• Contributors do not own content. All website content belongs to the account owner. Removing a contributor has no effect on any pages, blog posts, or products.
• Blog posts created by a Blog Editor contributor remain published. The author attribution may display the contributor's name or the site name depending on your template.
• Store orders processed by a Store Manager contributor remain in the order history.
• Membership users lose access to all protected pages. Their form submissions and any data collected through Webnode forms remain stored.
• E-commerce customers -- if you delete a customer account, their order history remains in the system for your records, but they can no longer log in to track orders.

Deactivating Without Deleting

Webnode does not have a native "deactivate" toggle. To effectively block access:

For contributors: Remove them from the Contributors list. Re-invite when needed.

For members: Remove them from the Members list. Their account data is deleted, but you can re-add them later with a new invitation.

For account owner transfers: If the website owner needs to change:

1. Go to Settings > Account
2. Change the email address to the new owner's email
3. Update the password
4. The new owner now controls the website

Note: This is a full account transfer. Webnode does not support transferring individual websites between accounts without contacting support.

SSO and Enterprise Authentication

Webnode does not support SAML, LDAP, OpenID Connect, or any form of enterprise SSO. Authentication for all user types (owner, contributors, members) uses Webnode's built-in email/password system.

Available security measures:

• Strong password requirements enforced by Webnode
• Account recovery via email
• Session management (automatic logout after inactivity)

For organizations requiring centralized identity management:

• Use a shared password manager (1Password, Bitwarden) for team members who need contributor access
• Maintain an external member directory and sync manually with Webnode's member list
• Consider Webnode's limitations when evaluating it for enterprise use -- it is designed primarily for small businesses and individual users

Access Audit Checklist

• Review all contributors under Settings > Contributors quarterly
• Verify contributor access levels match their current responsibilities
• Check the membership user list for inactive accounts
• Confirm the account owner email is current and accessible (critical for password resets)
• Review e-commerce customer accounts for test data from development
• Verify that membership registration mode (open, approval, invite-only) is set appropriately
• Check that protected pages are still correctly gated for members
• Document all contributor and member changes in an external tracking sheet (since Webnode does not provide audit logs)