- Introduction
- Using Dashboard Sharing
- View-only Dashboard
- WordPress Dashboard summary widget
- Admin bar
- Recovering a module
- FAQs
Introduction
Dashboard Sharing allows users with the Administrator user role to share a restricted view of the Site Kit dashboard, WordPress Dashboard summary widget, and admin bar with other user roles, including non-administrators.
With Dashboard Sharing, site administrators who “own” a service connection in Site Kit will be able to:
- Allow users with defined roles to view that service’s stats on the Site Kit Dashboard, WordPress Dashboard summary widget, and admin bar
- Allow any administrators signed in with a Google account to manage the view access in the Dashboard for certain services
The “owner” of a service connection is the user who connected it in Site Kit with their Google account.
Using Dashboard Sharing
Dashboard Sharing is managed in the Site Kit dashboard by clicking on the sharing icon in the Site Kit header. This will open a modal with configuration options.
Dashboard Sharing settings are only available to site users with the Administrator user role who have signed in to Site Kit using their own Google account. The settings interface displays a table of connected sharable services and the respective sharing settings for each This list will vary based on what has been connected on the site. Note that not all Site Kit services are shareable.
Services
The following services are configurable through Dashboard Sharing:
Note that a service will not display in the sharing settings if it has not been connected in Site Kit.
The configuration for Dashboard Sharing in this view is controlled per service and separated into two parts:
Who can view
This defines who will have access to view shared data for a service. A service can be shared to all user roles or selected user roles. Once options are selected, click Apply or Cancel to save or exit. Custom user roles will also display here as long as they contain the edit_posts capability.
Who can manage view access
This defines who can manage view access for a service. This setting will only appear if there are multiple administrators on the site. If there is only one administrator on the site, then this section will not display.
The Who can manage view access configurations can only be managed by the owner of that service. If the owner of the service has this option set to Only me, then any other administrator viewing the Dashboard Sharing settings will be unable to manage who can view for that service. If set to Any admin signed in with Google, the Who can view section will be editable by any admin signed in with Google.
By default, the Who can manage view access value is set to Only me. Only the owner of the service has this permission by default.
Not all services allow others to manage access, in which case they are always set to Any admin signed in with Google:
- Configurable: Search Console, AdSense, and Analytics
- Non-configurable: PageSpeed Insights
Granting view access for a service
To allow users to view data about a service in the Site Kit dashboard, go to the Dashboard Sharing settings and click on the Edit roles icon.
Click on the user role(s) that you want to grant access for to select it, and apply the changes using the Apply button. Any user with the role(s) that you selected will then be able to view that service’s data in the View-only Site Kit dashboard.
Revoking view access for a service
To revoke users’ access to view data about a service in the Site Kit dashboard, go to the Dashboard Sharing settings and click on the Edit roles icon.
Click on the user role(s) that you want to remove access for to unselect it, and apply the changes using the Apply button. Any user with that role will then lose permission to view that service’s data in the Site Kit dashboard, unless they are assigned to an additional role that still has view access for the service.
Resetting Dashboard Sharing
To reset all sharing configurations, go to the Dashboard Sharing settings and click on the Reset sharing permissions link.
In the modal that appears, press the Reset button to confirm that you wish to reset all sharing configurations. Press Cancel to exit without making any changes.
View-only Dashboard
Non-administrators
The view-only dashboard allows non-administrator users to access the Site Kit dashboard in a view-only mode and view stats for any services that have been shared with their user role. These services are shared to selected user roles by the service owner or an administrator who can manage view access.
When a non-administrator user logs into a site for the first time after services have been shared with their user role, they will see the Site Kit option in the left WordPress menu.
When navigating to the Site Kit dashboard for the first time, the user will see a notice that an administrator has granted them access to the view-only Site Kit dashboard.
After selecting Go To Dashboard, the user will see a view-only version of the Dashboard. Only the services shared with the user’s role will display on this Dashboard.
Users will continue to have access to shared data via the dashboard unless permissions are altered by an administrator of the site. A user can check which services have been shared with them by clicking the View only link at the top of the Dashboard.
Administrators
On sites with only one administrator, the administrator cannot access the view-only dashboard. However, if there is more than one administrator on a site and another administrator has shared services with administrators, subsequent administrators will be given the option to either sign in with Google or skip sign in and go to the view-only dashboard.
If the administrator chooses to sign in with Google, they will gain access to the main Site Kit dashboard and Dashboard Sharing settings.
If the administrator chooses to access the view-only Dashboard, they can view the Site Kit dashboard based on the sharing settings applied by another administrator without having to set up Site Kit with their own Google account. They can later choose to sign in with Google if they wish in order to view the Dashboard Sharing and other Site Kit settings by clicking View only at the top of the dashboard and selecting the Sign in with Google button.
WordPress Dashboard Summary Widget
Site Kit provides a summary widget that can be viewed from your WordPress Dashboard. This widget is also available to view-only users if the access has been granted to the necessary modules as described in the Granting view access for a service section above. The widget is collapsible and can also be hidden/displayed via the Screen Options dropdown.
Analytics
The stats shown in the WordPress Dashboard summary widget with Analytics view-only access granted are:
- Total unique visitors
- Average time on page
- Unique visitors over the last 28 days
- Top content over the last 28 days
Search Console
The stats shown in the WordPress Dashboard summary widget with Search Console view-only access granted are:
- Total impressions
- Total clicks
Admin Bar
The Site Kit admin bar displays stats about a page when an administrator is logged in and viewing a page. The admin bar is also available to view-only users if the access has been granted to the necessary modules as described in the Granting view access for a service section above.
Analytics
The stats shown in the admin bar with Analytics access granted are:
- Total users
- Total sessions
Search Console
The stats shown in the admin bar with Search Console access granted are:
- Total impressions
- Total clicks
Recovering a module
The term “service” refers to the Google service, for example Analytics or AdSense. When a service is connected to Site Kit, it’s connected by a “module” within the plugin.
The module owner is the administrator that connects that module in Site Kit. If the owner or another administrator of the site shares a module with other user roles, this becomes a shared module.
If the owner of a shared module has been deleted from the site, disconnected from Site Kit, or had their user role changed from admin, the modules that they previously owned will be recoverable by another administrator if they have access to them with the current settings.
When accessing Site Kit as another administrator that has access to the recoverable modules, these will be listed with a Recover button. Once recovered, you will become the new owner of these modules. This will allow you to manage who has view access to services if there are other administrators on the site.
If an administrator accesses Site Kit and doesn’t have access to the services that are recoverable, they will see the same message displayed but only the modules they have access to will be listed.
FAQs
Why don’t I see Who can manage view access in the Dashboard Sharing settings?
The Who can manage view access section only displays when there is more than one administrator on the site. If the site has only one administrator, this section will not display.
Why can’t I change who can manage roles for PageSpeed Insights? It’s appearing as “Any admin signed in with Google.”
PageSpeed Insights requires general access to Google APIs rather than access to a specific user-owned entity. For that reason, view access is manageable by any administrator signed in with Google.
Does disconnecting a module reset all of that service’s Dashboard Sharing settings?
Yes, if you disconnect any module within Site Kit, all view and manage view access settings will be reset.
What happens if the administrator who owns a shared module disconnects their Google account from Site Kit?
If the owner of a shared module has disconnected their Google account from the site, the modules that they previously owned can be recovered by another administrator. Non-administrators will not be able to view data for any disconnected service in the view-only dashboard unless the module is recovered, in which case the previous sharing settings will be reapplied. Another administrator with access to the connected service can claim ownership. Non-administrators who have view-only dashboard access will see a placeholder in the dashboard.
What can users with view-only dashboard access see if I only share Search Console data?
If only Search Console is shared, users will see some limited data on the view-only dashboard. In the Search traffic over the last * days table section you will see only the “Impressions” and “Total Clicks”, as these are related to Search Console. Under the Top search queries for your site section, users with view-only access will also be able to view Search Console data from there. Users will also have limited access to the WordPress Dashboard summary widget and admin bar.
My site has several administrators, but I want to assign only one particular administrator to manage view access. Is this possible?
At this time, managing view access is limited to the module owner and, when granted, any other admin signed in to Site Kit with their Google account.
What user roles can I share view-only access to the Site Kit dashboard with?
You can share view-only access to services on the Site Kit dashboard with any user roles that include the edit_posts capability.
Can I share view-only access to services with custom-created user roles?
Yes, custom-created user roles will display in the Dashboard Sharing settings, as long as they have the edit_posts capability.
Can administrators get access to the view-only Dashboard?
Yes, it is possible for an administrator to get access to the view-only Dashboard when configuring Site Kit for the first time. This doesn’t require the administrator to sign in with a Google account. If the administrator later wishes to view the Dashboard Sharing and other Site Kit settings, they can do this by clicking View only at the top of the dashboard and selecting the Sign in with Google button.