Back-End User Guide
Last edited: October 22, 2026
This guide introduces the governed Back-End administration tools of the Royal Arch Masons Ontario website. It explains administrative scope, normal processing workflows, verification and the limits of delegated authority.
1. Sign in and review the primary menu
Sign in with an approved Back-End account. The shared signed-in menu provides WP Admin, GC Events, Chapter Events, Grand Chapter Organization, Directory, Forms, Log Out and Help. Administrative capabilities are determined by the current role and the authorization assigned to each operation.
Practice: Identify WP Admin, Help and the main website navigation entries.
2. Open WP Admin and GCO2
Open WP Admin and use the established GCO2 entry point. Back-End operators use governed administrative interfaces rather than relying on unrestricted WordPress Administrator privileges. The presence of a menu or workflow does not itself authorize every action.
Practice: Locate GCO2, Resource Management, Event Management and Companion Requests without modifying data.
3. Chapter selection and scope
Back-End administration supports organization-wide governed Chapter workflows. Confirm the selected Chapter before opening or changing records. Chapter selection determines the working context; it must not silently change record ownership or Chapter membership information.
Practice: Open the Chapter selector, locate a Chapter and inspect its records without saving changes.
4. Companion Requests
The Companion Requests process distinguishes Submitted, In Progress, Completed and Lost. Duplicates are handled separately and excluded from the main queue-total reconciliation. Operators should review submitted information, identify existing Person records, resolve possible duplicates and create or link a Person only through approved actions.
Completed History provides a read-only audit of the processing sequence. Normal Back-End operations have specific permitted actions; exceptional operations such as duplicate confirmation, spam classification and certain bulk or Lost transitions require separate governance authorization and must not be assumed available.
Practice: Inspect the request queue, examine an existing request and locate Completed History without processing a live submission.
5. Resource Management
Resource Management handles governed libraries, resource classifications and file revisions. Retain all recorded versions, examine the revision inventory and select the Active version explicitly. A higher version number does not automatically become Active. Selecting no Active version is permitted where the interface supports that decision.
Review warnings for older versions, duplicate versions and same-version files with different content before approving changes. Use the available audit details when verifying a resource decision.
Practice: Locate a resource and review its revisions, current Active version and audit information without changing its state.
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 Management
Use the governed Event Management interface for event actions within the Back-End role’s confirmed authority. Chapter regular meetings, Chapter social events and District-owned events must retain their respective classifications and ownership. Do not interpret organization-wide Chapter access as an automatic grant of every District-event action.
The Create and Edit workflows use shared governed form patterns. After saving, reopen the event and verify its details and public presentation. Grand Chapter events use the externally maintained shared Google Calendar and are not created through the GCO2 Chapter or District event workflow.
Related procedure: How do I create an event?
Practice: Locate the relevant event listing and identify which actions are actually enabled for your account.
7. Audit, verification and exceptions
Before modifying a record, confirm its identity, ownership and existing status. After saving, reopen the record and review the result. Use available audit records to identify the actor, time, change and supporting details. Keep exceptional or restricted actions separate from ordinary processing until appropriately authorized.
Where an operation produces warnings, investigate their meaning rather than treating every warning as a failure. Do not erase revision history or silently replace retained evidence.
Practice: Locate an audit or history view and identify the recorded change details.
8. Troubleshooting, governance and Help
If an administrative action is unavailable, check the current account, role, action authorization, selected Chapter and record ownership. Do not bypass governance restrictions. Consult the applicable governed procedures when an operation requires escalation or a separate decision.
Help articles are publicly readable and support training, but they do not grant authority to execute their described workflows.
Practice: Return to Help and locate a functional FAQ applicable to Back-End administration.
Learning checklist
- I can locate WP Admin and GCO2.
- I can select the correct Chapter context.
- I understand the Companion Requests queue and exceptional actions.
- I understand resource revision retention and Active selection.
- I distinguish Chapter event ownership from District event ownership.
- I can locate audit history and verify saved changes.
- I understand that Back-End access is governed and does not imply unrestricted WordPress Administrator privileges.
