Guides

Admin Interface

Navigating and using the TentoCMS admin interface.

User guide for navigating and using the TentoCMS admin interface.

Overview

The TentoCMS admin interface is organised into a fixed left sidebar for navigation and a main area with a header on top and the page content below. Navigation is grouped into labelled sections, and which sections you see depends on your current context (super admin, an organisation, or a specific project) and your role.

Layout Structure

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ┌────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │  Logo      │  │  Header: [Search]  [Theme] [User] │    │
│  │  Scope     │  └──────────────────────────────────┘    │
│  │  switcher  │  ┌──────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │            │  │  [Breadcrumbs]                    │    │
│  │  Sidebar   │  │                                   │    │
│  │  (grouped  │  │        Main Content Area          │    │
│  │  sections) │  │                                   │    │
│  │            │  │                                   │    │
│  └────────────┘  └──────────────────────────────────┘    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Sidebar

The sidebar has three fixed parts, top to bottom:

Logo — the TentoCMS logo.
Scope switcher — a card showing your current organisation (top line) and project/site (bottom line). Click it to switch between the organisations and projects you have access to. Super admins can also exit an organisation to return to the super-admin view. If you only belong to one organisation and one project, there is nothing to switch and the card is static.
Navigation — links grouped into labelled sections (below).

Navigation depends on your context

The sidebar shows a different set of sections depending on where you are:

Super-admin view (super admins, before choosing an organisation) — a single Super admin section:

Item	Description
Organisations	Manage all organisations (tenants)
Security events	Review security-related activity across the platform
Trash	Recover or permanently remove deleted organisations

Organisation view (after selecting an organisation but before choosing a project) — a single Organisation section:

Item	Description
Overview	Organisation summary
Projects	The projects within this organisation
Team	Members and their organisation roles
Settings	Organisation-level settings

Project view (after selecting a project) — this is the main working view, described next.

Project view sections

Once you are inside a project, the sidebar is grouped as follows.

Content

Item	Description
Dashboard	Project overview and quick access

Blog

Item	Description
Posts	Create and edit blog posts
Categories	Manage post categories
Tags	Manage post tags

Pages & collections

Item	Description
Pages	Create and edit content pages
Collections	Manage collection entries
Media	Upload and manage images and files
Variables	Manage reusable project variables

Settings (developer and admin roles only)

Item	Description	Visible to
Page types	Define the structure of pages	Developer+
Collection types	Define the structure of collections	Developer+ (deleting a collection type specifically requires Admin — see note below)
Components	Manage the reusable component library	Developer+
Webhooks	Configure outbound webhooks	Developer+
Migrations	Import/export and content migrations	Developer+
API keys	Public API and preview keys	Developer+ for preview keys; live (production) keys require Admin — see note below
Users	Manage users in the project	Admin only
Audit logs	Review who changed what	Admin only
Usage	View usage and quotas	Admin only
Backup	Export and back up content	Admin only
API docs	Reference for the public API	Admin only
Organisation	Jump to the organisation view	Org admins / super admins
Trash	Recover or permanently remove deleted content	Developer+ position in Settings — but acting on trash (restore or permanent delete) requires Admin; see note below

Collection-type deletion needs Admin, not just Developer. Creating and editing collection types only requires Developer+, but the delete endpoint specifically checks for the Admin role. A Developer can see and use every other Collection types control but will get a FORBIDDEN response if they try to delete one.
API keys are split by key type, not admin-only. The whole API keys router requires Developer or higher, so Developers can view key metadata and create, update and revoke preview keys. Live (production) keys — the ones serving real traffic — additionally require Admin. Editors and Publishers have no access at either layer: the Settings section is hidden from their sidebar, and the API refuses them regardless of navigation.

Where Trash appears

Trash is available to every role — it is never hidden. Its position in the sidebar depends on your role:

Developers and admins see Trash at the bottom of the Settings section.
Editors and publishers (who have no Settings section) see Trash appended to the Pages & collections section.

But restoring or permanently deleting is Admin-only, regardless of where Trash appears. Every role can open Trash and browse what's in it — the listing endpoint has no role check. Restoring an item or permanently deleting it, however, requires the Admin role; Editors, Publishers, and Developers can view trash contents but get a FORBIDDEN response if they try to restore or permanently delete.

Active highlighting

The current section is highlighted in the sidebar. The most specific matching link wins, so parent links don't over-highlight — for example, on the Projects list the "Projects" item is highlighted rather than "Overview".

Role-based access

Roles follow the hierarchy editor < publisher < developer < admin. Higher roles can do everything lower roles can, plus more.

Role	Sees in the project view
Editor	Content, Blog, Pages & collections (with Trash — view-only; can't restore or permanently delete). No Settings section.
Publisher	Same sections as Editor, with publishing abilities on the pages themselves. Trash remains view-only. No Settings section, and no access to API keys at either layer — the API keys router requires Developer or higher.
Developer	All of the above plus the Settings section (Page types, Collection types, Components, Webhooks, Migrations, API keys) and Trash under Settings — still view-only for Trash, can't delete collection types (Admin-only), and can manage preview API keys but not live ones.
Admin	Everything Developers see plus the admin-only Settings items (Users, Audit logs, Usage, Backup, API docs), the only role that can restore/permanently delete Trash items, and the only role that can delete a collection type.

Header

The header sits above the main content and contains, left to right:

Search (only inside a project): a search box for pages, posts, and media. Click it — or press Cmd/Ctrl + K from anywhere — to open the search palette.
Theme toggle: a sun/moon button that switches between light and dark mode. Your choice is remembered.
User menu: your avatar initials, your name, and a pill showing your current role. Open it for:
- Profile — your profile settings.
- Sign out — log out and return to the login screen.

Offline banner

If your internet connection drops, a banner appears at the top of the interface warning that changes may not be saved. It disappears automatically once you reconnect.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs appear at the top of the main content area and are generated automatically from the current URL, always starting with Home. Each parent segment is a clickable link; the current page is shown as plain text. Segment names are turned into readable labels (for example, page-types becomes "Page Types"), and some routes are handled specially — for instance, blog post URLs omit the redundant "Posts" segment, and the "Settings" segment is shown but is not itself a link.

Common tasks

Switch organisation or project

Click the scope switcher card near the top of the sidebar.
Choose an organisation and/or project from the menu.

Create a new page

Open Pages in the sidebar.
Click the New Page button.

Find content quickly

Click the search box in the header (or press Cmd/Ctrl + K).
Type to search across pages, posts, and media, then select a result.

Recover deleted content

Open Trash (under Settings for developers/admins, or under Pages & collections for editors/publishers).
Restore an item, or permanently remove it. (Requires the Admin role — everyone else can browse Trash but not act on it.)

Change the theme

Click the sun/moon button in the header.
The interface switches between light and dark mode immediately.

Sign out

Open the user menu (top right).
Click Sign out.