# Give someone access to the store owner panel

Store owner panel

Access to the store owner panel is not a separate user type: it is an ordinary customer account with two things set by an administrator — membership in the **Store manager** customer group and a store chosen in **Manager of store**. Both are required. What the manager can then do inside the panel is controlled by the permissions of the Store manager group.

### Before you start

- The store must exist in **Configuration → Stores** in the Admin panel. The store owner panel is only useful in a multi-store installation; with one store the administrator can simply use `/admin`.
- The person needs a customer account. You can create it in **Customers → Customers → Add new** or let them register on the storefront and promote the account afterwards.
- You need an administrator account with the **Manage Customers** and **Manage ACL** permissions.

### How to make a customer a store manager

1. In the Admin panel open **Customers → Customers** and find the account by email.
2. Open it. On the **Customer Info** tab, in **Customer groups**, keep **Registered** and add **Store manager**.
3. In **Manager of store** choose the store this person will run. Leave **Manager of vendor** empty — a store manager is not a vendor.
4. Check that **Active** is on, then click **Save**.
5. Send the person the address of the panel: `https://<your-store-domain>/store`. They sign in with their normal email and password; the storefront account menu also shows a **Store portal** button for them.

![Admin panel customer editor with the Store manager customer group and the Manager of store field set](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/store-panel/admin-customer-manager.webp)

Admin panel, Customers → Customers → edit: the Store manager group and the Manager of store field are what open /store.

The **Store** field just below is something else: it says which store the customer account belongs to (it matters when customer accounts are kept per store). Setting it does not give any back-office access. The two are usually the same store.

More about customer groups and the customer editor: [Customers](https://grandnode.com/docs-customers).

### What is checked on every request

Each page of the panel checks, in this order:

1. the signed-in customer has the **Access Store Manager Panel** permission (through any of their groups);
2. the customer is in the **Store manager** group; and
3. **Manager of store** is not empty.

If any check fails the person is sent to the store owner panel login page. That is the first thing to look at when a manager says "the panel keeps asking me to log in".

### How to choose what the manager can do

Menu entries and screens in `/store` are shown only when the Store manager group holds the matching permission. Permissions are edited for the whole group, so every store manager of every store gets the same set — the store scope is what keeps them apart.

1. In the Admin panel open **Configuration → Permissions**.
2. Find the **Store manager** column.
3. Make sure **Access Store Manager Panel** (section **Access Store**) is ticked.
4. Tick the areas you want managers to run, for example **Manage Products**, **Manage Orders**, **Manage Discounts**, **Manage Settings**, **Manage Payment Methods**, **Manage Shipping Settings**, **Manage Tax Settings**.
5. Click **Save**. The manager sees the new menu entries on the next page load.

![Admin panel Permissions screen with the Store manager column and Access Store Manager Panel ticked](https://grandnode.com/Plugins/Theme.GrandNodeCom/Content/kb/store-panel/admin-permissions.webp)

Configuration → Permissions in the Admin panel. The Store manager column decides which menus appear in /store.

The gear icon next to a tick opens the action-level permissions (for example allow viewing but not deleting). A new installation gives the Store manager group: **Access Store Manager Panel**, **Manage Products**, **Manage Files**, **Manage Pictures**, **Manage Categories**, **Manage Brands**, **Manage Collections**, **Manage Orders**, **Manage Payment Transactions**, **Manage Shipments**, **Manage Merchandise Returns**, **Manage Customers** and **Manage Reports**. Payment, shipping, tax, settings, discounts, content and attribute screens must be granted explicitly.

### Managing customers requires per-store accounts

The **Customers** screens in `/store` work only when customer accounts are kept per store — the `Customer:RegisterCustomersPerStore` option in `appsettings.json` is `true`. With the option off, customers are shared across stores and cannot belong to one manager, so the panel shows a page explaining how to enable it instead of the customer list. The option is set by whoever hosts the installation and needs an application restart.

### Tips and common mistakes

- **Group without store, or store without group.** Both are needed; either alone leads back to the login page.
- **Never make an administrator a store manager.** The Admin panel refuses any account in the Store manager group or with **Manager of store** set, so doing it to your own account locks you out of `/admin`. Use a separate account for store work.
- **Permissions are per group, not per person.** Permissions from all of a customer's groups add up, so an extra group can give one manager more rights, never fewer. Grant the Store manager group the set that every store may have.
- **Removing access.** Clear **Manager of store** or remove the Store manager group and save; the next request is rejected.

### Related

- [Store owner panel overview](https://grandnode.com/store-panel-overview)
- [Dashboard and navigation](https://grandnode.com/store-panel-dashboard-and-navigation)
- [Customers](https://grandnode.com/docs-customers)

- [Web page](https://grandnode.com/store-panel-access)