You will build: A site with a content editor who writes CMS items, and a teammate editing the canvas with you live
Read first: QuickstartTour of the editor
In this tutorial you give a writer access to one site, see what they can and cannot change, and edit a page together with a teammate. You need owner or admin access to the workspace, and a second person (or a second browser) to play the writer.
Pick the right role
Every person gets one role. Workspace roles apply to every site in the workspace; the content editor role is given per site.
| Role | Good for | Can |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | The account holder | Everything, including billing |
| Admin | Team leads | Manage members, domains and integrations, export sites, publish to production |
| Editor | Designers and developers | Design pages, edit CMS, data and workflows, publish to staging |
| Viewer | Reviewers | Open sites read-only |
| Content editor | Writers and clients | Edit and publish CMS items and plain text on pages, on one site |
Add a content editor
Make sure they have an account
Ask the writer to sign up for Malla first. You add people by the email of their account.
Open the members of the site
On the dashboard, open the menu of the site card and choose Members. You can also open the site menu in the editor and choose Site settings: Members is the first section.
Add them
Under Add a content editor, type their email and press Add. They appear in the Content editors list. Everyone in your workspace is listed under From the workspace, with their workspace role.
The writer is listed under Content editors with the Content editor role.
See what a content editor sees
Open the shared site
Sign in as the writer. The site is listed under Shared with you on the dashboard. Open it.
Write in the CMS
The editor opens in the CMS. The left sidebar shows CMS, Forms and Tables; Data and Logic are hidden. Pick a collection, press New item, fill in the fields and publish it.
Change text on a page
Click CMS in the sidebar again to go back to the canvas. The toolbar shows a Content editor badge, and the inspector is hidden. Select a text and double-click it to change the words. Buttons, links, styles and layout stay read-only, and there is no Publish button.
Edit together
Open the same page
Ask a teammate with the Editor role to open the same site. Their avatar appears in the toolbar, next to Publish. Hover it to see which page they are on.
Follow their work
Their cursor moves on the canvas, and the element they select gets an outline in their color. Their edits appear as they make them, even on the element you are editing.
Undo your own change
Change a color, and let your teammate change a text. Press ⌘Z: only your color goes back. Undo never reverts a teammate's edit.
Keep working offline
If your connection drops, the status pill in the toolbar shows Offline · changes saved locally. Keep working: your edits are sent when you reconnect.
A writer updates content on their own, and you and a teammate edit the same page at the same time without overwriting each other.
What you learned
- Workspace roles apply to every site; content editors are added to one site in Site settings → Members.
- Content editors write in the CMS and change plain text, while design, data and logic stay read-only.
- Everyone sees each other's avatars, cursors and selections, and undo only reverts your own edits.
Read the guides behind this tutorial: