Office User Guide
Last edited: October 22, 2026
This guide introduces the Royal Arch Masons Ontario website tools used by authorized Grand Chapter Office personnel. It explains the shared navigation, governed administration interfaces, organization-wide support responsibilities and procedures for reviewing and verifying information.
1. Signing in and the primary menu
Sign in with your approved Office account. The shared signed-in primary menu provides WP Admin, GC Events, Chapter Events, Grand Chapter Organization, Directory, Forms, Log Out and Help. Each administrative action remains subject to its own authorization requirements.
Practice: Locate the WP Admin entry, Grand Chapter Organization, Directory and Help.
2. Accessing WP Admin and GCO2
Open WP Admin to enter the governed administration interface. Use the established GCO2 entry point to access the tools available to the Office role. WordPress administration and GCO2 management are related but distinct; visibility of an interface does not automatically authorize every action.
Practice: Locate GCO2 and identify the available administrative work areas without changing records.
3. Organization-wide information and Chapter selection
Office users support organization-wide operations and may work with information associated with multiple Chapters and Districts. Before reviewing or updating a record, confirm the selected Chapter or District and its ownership. Do not change a Person’s mother Chapter, membership relationship or office assignment without the evidence and authorization required by the governed workflow.
Practice: Locate the Chapter selector, examine an available Chapter record and identify its current administrative context.
4. Companion Requests and membership support
Companion Requests are organized into Submitted, In Progress, Completed and Lost queues. Duplicate submissions are evaluated separately. The processing workflow may require review of an existing Person, correction of submitted details, selection of an existing identity or creation of a Person where authorized.
Review possible duplicates carefully and retain the supporting history. The availability of specific processing, bulk or exception actions depends on Office authorization; do not assume Back-End permissions are automatically available to Office personnel.
Practice: Open Companion Requests, identify the queue classifications and locate the history or review information without changing a live request.
5. Resource Management
Resource Management supports governed document libraries and retained file revisions. Confirm the resource classification, library and intended audience before making a change. Preserve previous revisions and explicitly select an Active version where authorized. Uploading a newer-numbered file must not automatically activate it.
Practice: Locate a resource and review its revision inventory, Active state and available audit details.
Related Resource Management procedures
- How do I create a resource?
- How do I deactivate a resource?
- How do I edit a resource?
- How do I find a resource?
- How do I upload a resource revision?
6. Event coordination and ownership
The website distinguishes Chapter regular meetings, Chapter social events and District-owned events. Office support must respect each record’s ownership and the actions explicitly authorized for the Office role. Do not assume that organization-wide visibility gives permission to modify every event.
Grand Chapter events are maintained externally using the shared Google Calendar. The website provides access to that calendar, but GCO2 Chapter and District Event Management is not its editing interface.
Related procedure: How do I create an event?
Practice: Locate the public Chapter Events listing and identify the different ownership categories.
7. Records, audit history and verification
Before an authorized change, confirm the identity and current state of the record. After saving, reopen it and verify the result. Where a workflow provides audit history, review the recorded actor, time, action and details. Retain revision and decision evidence in accordance with the established governance requirements.
Practice: Locate an available audit or history view and identify the information needed to verify a completed action.
8. Troubleshooting, Help and governance
If information or a management action is unavailable, verify the signed-in account, role authorization, Chapter or District context and record ownership. Follow the established governance procedure when a correction, exception or escalation is required.
The Help library is publicly readable, but its instructions do not grant administrative authority. Governed documentation and approved work instructions remain authoritative for administrative operations.
Practice: Return to Help and locate the Back-End and District Secretary guides for related responsibilities.
Learning checklist
- I can navigate the shared Office menu.
- I can locate WP Admin and GCO2.
- I understand Chapter and District working contexts.
- I can identify Companion Requests queues and review information.
- I understand resource revision retention and activation.
- I can distinguish Chapter, District and Grand Chapter events.
- I know how to verify changes and consult audit history.
- I understand that every administrative action remains governed.
