# Authors

Manage public names and biographies separately from staff login accounts and content ownership.

GroCMS 0.1.0 · Content · Authors, contributors, editors and administrators · Reviewed 15 September 2026

## Public identity and login identity

Authors manages public author profiles: the name, biography and profile page that can accompany published content. People manages login accounts, roles and access. They are separate parts of GroCMS. Creating a profile does not invite someone, set a password or give them editorial permission. Changing an account's name is not the same as publishing a revised public biography.

A Post also has an owner: the login account that created the resource. Selecting a different Author profile changes public attribution, not that ownership. For example, an editor may prepare an article with a colleague's byline while the editor remains its creator. The byline does not transfer access to the colleague's login.

Sources: Content and publication service (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`); Resource editor (repository: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/resource-editor.tsx`); Resource permission policy (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/policy/index.ts`).

## Create your own profile

1. Open Authors. Choose New profile, or Create profile if the list is empty.
2. Enter the public name as Title and choose Create & open editor.
3. In Details, set a clear Address / slug, a short Excerpt and the full biography in Body.
4. Check the saved-state message. Use Preview to inspect the saved profile when your role permits it.
5. As an author or contributor, choose Submit for review. An editor or administrator can assess and publish the profile.

| Field | Meaning for a profile |
| --- | --- |
| Title | The public author name used when the profile is displayed. |
| Address / slug | The profile address segment, normally under /authors/. |
| Excerpt | A short introduction that the active design may use. |
| Body | The biography written with the supported rich-text controls. |
| SEO & visibility | Search presentation and public/private publication settings, subject to role restrictions. |

An author or contributor can create one active profile for their own account. If a second creation fails, find the existing profile rather than making another spelling of the same person. The restriction concerns active, non-trashed profiles. It is not a general limit of one profile for the entire site.

Sources: Content lists and creation dialogs (repository: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/content-list.tsx`); Resource editor (repository: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/resource-editor.tsx`); Content and publication service (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`); Profile and older-page browser journeys (repository: `apps/cms/tests/admin-pagination-browser.ts`).

## Who can change a profile

Administrators and editors manage profiles across the site and control publication. Authors and contributors can create, read, edit, preview and submit their own profile; they cannot publish it. Designers can read profiles to understand their presentation but see read-only fields rather than biography-editing controls.

For self-service editing, let the author create the profile while signed in to their own account. A profile created by an administrator belongs to that administrator's resource ownership; the current Authors screen has no ownership-transfer control. An administrator-created profile is therefore not automatically self-editable by a person whose name happens to match its title.

If a team member cannot find or edit their expected profile, first distinguish a public attribution problem from an account permission problem. People can verify their login role. Authors can verify which profile exists. Do not solve the issue by sharing another person's password or assuming that matching email/name text grants ownership.

Sources: Resource permission policy (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/policy/index.ts`); Content and publication service (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`); Authority and media integration tests (repository: `apps/cms/tests/auth-authority.integration.test.ts`); Profile and older-page browser journeys (repository: `apps/cms/tests/admin-pagination-browser.ts`).

## Use the profile on content

After an editor publishes a public profile, it can be selected in a content entry's Author profile control. Authors and contributors may choose their own published public profile or clear attribution. Administrators and editors may assign other eligible profiles. New content automatically selects the creator's own published public profile when one is available; existing articles are not all reassigned automatically.

For example, create a profile titled Naledi Dlamini, write and submit its biography, and have an editor publish it. A later new Post created by that account can default to Naledi's profile. If the profile is still a draft, publish it first instead of expecting a draft biography to be displayed publicly with the Post.

The public profile route gathers eligible published content attributed to the profile. Its visible layout depends on the site's template. A published profile can be present even when there are no public attributed articles yet. Assigning an author in a draft Post does not move the Post into that public profile listing until the Post is published.

Sources: Resource editor (repository: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/resource-editor.tsx`); Content and publication service (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`); Public content and archive selection (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/public.ts`); Authority and media integration tests (repository: `apps/cms/tests/auth-authority.integration.test.ts`).

## Revise and recover a biography

Saving a new name or biography creates a profile draft and preserves the current public version. Submit the revised profile for editorial publication. The unchanged public byline and biography are intentional: profile changes have their own approval/publication decision rather than silently changing every published consumer during typing.

Revision history can restore an older profile snapshot as a new working draft. It does not publish that snapshot immediately. A profile needed by published content may be protected against withdrawal; change the dependent content first. If an author cannot remove their own profile, ask an editor because self-profile access does not include every lifecycle action.

Finally, distinguish presentation from missing data. A template may show only the profile title and related articles, while another displays the biography. Preview and inspect the published page before rewriting fields to compensate for a design choice. The profile supplies identity; the template controls which parts visitors see.

Sources: Resource editor (repository: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/resource-editor.tsx`); Content and publication service (repository: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`); Published-content integration tests (repository: `apps/cms/tests/integration/public.test.ts`); Authority and media integration tests (repository: `apps/cms/tests/auth-authority.integration.test.ts`).

## References

- Content and publication service — repository path: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/content.ts`. Draft isolation, route rules, profile ownership, exact review/schedule targets and recovery.

- Resource editor — repository path: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/resource-editor.tsx`. Content fields, permissions, autosave, history, publication and scheduling dialogs.

- Resource permission policy — repository path: `apps/cms/src/cms/policy/index.ts`. Administrator, editor, author, contributor and designer capabilities.

- Content lists and creation dialogs — repository path: `apps/cms/src/components/admin/content-list.tsx`. Search, status filters, selection, pagination and creation controls.

- Profile and older-page browser journeys — repository path: `apps/cms/tests/admin-pagination-browser.ts`. Author profile creation and body save/reload, designer read-only access and older workflow entries.

- Authority and media integration tests — repository path: `apps/cms/tests/auth-authority.integration.test.ts`. Own profiles, media versions, page traversal, private references and account revocation.

- Public content and archive selection — repository path: `apps/cms/src/cms/services/public.ts`. Published taxonomy descendants, profile archives and public visibility.

- Published-content integration tests — repository path: `apps/cms/tests/integration/public.test.ts`. Page moves, redirects, publication isolation, taxonomy queries and historical restore.

## Related guides

- [People & permissions](https://grocms.com/docs/people)

- [Posts](https://grocms.com/docs/posts)

- [Review queue](https://grocms.com/docs/review-queue)

- [Templates](https://grocms.com/docs/templates)

- [Account & security](https://grocms.com/docs/account-and-security)