How to Use the Admin Panel — Complete User Manual

Navigate to /admin/login and sign in with your authorized email address and password (default Super Admin: marketing@routebleueparfums.com).

Located in the top Admin header bar, Super Admins can switch the "Preview Team View" dropdown between Super Admin (Default), IT Team Access, and Marketing Team Access. The left sidebar immediately updates to show the exact modules visible to that team.

Click the moon/sun toggle switch in the top-right header bar to switch the Admin Console between Dark Mode and Light Mode.

Signed-in users on the public website can click "Password" in the top navigation bar at any time to change their own account password. Administrators can also change the primary admin password in Admin → Global Settings.

Monitor Total Users (active accounts), Pending Requests (highlighted in red when action is needed), Download Packs (configured PDFs & ZIPs), and Logged Downloads (cumulative audit count).

The "Pending Access Requests" panel lists the 5 most recent applications with instant "Approve" and "Reject" buttons. Clicking Approve creates the user account and automatically emails their login credentials.

Jump directly to Imagery & Watermark Settings, Download Assets & Access Levels, User Accounts & Roles, or download the PDF version of this manual.

Go to Admin → Users & Team Roles (/admin/users). Ensure the "Super Admin — Define Team Roles & Level of Access" panel is visible (use the "Configure Team Roles & Checkboxes" button to toggle it).

Each row represents one of the 11 portal permissions, and each column represents a team (Super Admin, IT, Marketing). Click any checkbox to toggle between "Allowed" (green) and "Off". Changes save immediately to the database and update the sidebar in real time.

Use the "All | None" links under any team header to enable or clear all permissions for that team at once. Check "Include Partner / External Roles" in the panel header if you also want to customize checkbox permissions for Partner, Distributor, Press, or Agency roles.

Click any of the three Team Summary Cards at the top of /admin/users (Super Admin, IT, Marketing), use the filter tabs ("All Users", "Super Admin", "IT Team", "Marketing Team", "External Partners"), or click the sub-links under "Users & Team Roles" in the left sidebar.

Click "+ Add Team / Portal User" at the top right. Select the Team Category / Role (grouped into "Admin & Internal Teams" and "Portal & Partner Roles"), enter Full Name, Email Address, Department/Company, and Initial Password, then click "Create User". Their account is created as ACTIVE and login credentials are emailed automatically.

In the Users table, use the "Team Category / Role" dropdown on any row to reassign a user between Super Admin, IT, Marketing, Partner, Distributor, Press, or Agency.

Use the "Status" dropdown on any user row to switch between ACTIVE (allowed to sign in), PENDING, and SUSPENDED (immediately revokes login access).

Click "Reset Password" in the Actions column, enter the new password, and click "Update & Email User". The user’s password hash is updated and they receive an email with their updated login credentials.

Use the status filter buttons (ALL, PENDING, APPROVED, REJECTED) or the search bar to locate an applicant by name, email, or company.

In the "Company & Assigned Tier" column, choose which role to assign upon approval: Super Admin, IT Team, Marketing Team, Internal Team, Partner, Distributor, Retail Partner, Press, or Agency.

Click the green "Approve" button and confirm in the dialog. The portal automatically creates/activates the User account with the chosen role and sends an HTML welcome email with their login credentials.

For already-approved requests, click "Resend Email" at any time to re-send their login credentials. To decline a request, switch its status dropdown to REJECTED or click "Delete".

In /admin/pages, click "Edit Content" next to any page module (e.g., home, brand, fragrances, logo-guidelines, colours, typography, imagery, training). Click "Preview" to open the live page in a new tab.

By default, structured pages open in "Visual Editor" mode with clean form fields, collapsible item cards, and "+ Add" buttons to add new items or paragraphs. Advanced admins can click "Raw JSON" at the top right of the editor card to inspect or edit the underlying JSON structure directly.

Next to every image, video, pattern, or logo URL field, click "Library" to open a visual modal of all images on the server and click any thumbnail to insert its path, or click "Upload" to upload a new file from your computer directly into that field.

When you modify any field, an "UNSAVED CHANGES" indicator appears and the "Save Changes" button turns blue. Click "Save Changes" and confirm in the dialog to publish immediately to the live MySQL PageContent table.

Go to Admin → Image Assets (/admin/images) and click "+ Upload New Image" at the top right. Uploaded files are stored in /images/uploads/ and immediately appear at the top of the gallery.

Click "Copy Path" on any image card to copy its relative URL (e.g., /images/uploads/bottle.png) to your clipboard for use anywhere in the portal, or click the red trash button to delete an unused image.

Go to Admin → Pages & Text → Edit "imagery". At the top of the Visual Editor under "Security & Access Settings", toggle "Enable Watermark" to overlay a repeating diagonal text or logo watermark whenever a public visitor downloads a campaign poster, and choose "Asset Download Permissions" (Public, Registered Users Only, or Admins & Internal Only).

Use the "Add New Colour" form on the right side of /admin/colours. Enter the Colour Title (e.g., Route Bleue), select the Family (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Accent), enter the HEX code (e.g., #1051E9), optional RGB and CMYK specifications, and Display Order, then click "Add Colour Story".

Click "Edit" on any row in the Colour Stories table to load its values into the right-hand form, update any specification, and click "Save Colour Changes". Click "Delete" to remove a swatch.

On the public /colours page, each swatch is rendered at 500 (Main Colour) and the portal automatically computes interactive 100–400 lighter tints and 600–900 darker shades.

Click "+ Add New Asset" in /admin/downloads. You can upload a file directly from your computer (which saves to /assets/ and auto-fills the File URL, File Type, and File Size) or enter a path to a file uploaded via FTP into /public_html/brand.routebleueparfums.com/assets/.

Assign each asset to a Category: Catalogues, Guidelines, Logos, Typography, Campaigns, Press & Media, Packaging, or Brand Assets. The public /downloads page groups assets cleanly under these category headings.

Use the "Access Level" dropdown on any asset row (or inside the Edit modal) to control who can download that file: PUBLIC (open to all visitors), PARTNER / LOGGED_IN (requires a signed-in Partner or registered user), or INTERNAL (restricted to Internal & Admin teams only).

Every time a visitor or partner downloads an asset from /downloads or /imagery, the portal records the Timestamp, Asset Title, User Email (or Anonymous Public User), Role Context, and IP Address. Click "Export CSV" at the top right of /admin/logs to download a complete spreadsheet for compliance or reporting.

In Admin → Global Settings, toggle ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS between ENABLED and DISABLED. When set to DISABLED, even assets marked PUBLIC will require visitors to sign in with an authorized account before downloading.

Update PORTAL_TITLE or ADMIN_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL and click "Save", or use the "Administrator Password" card at the bottom of /admin/settings to change the sign-in password for marketing@routebleueparfums.com.