Using Organizations in Craft Console
Craft Console replaced Craft ID in December 2022. Any references you may find to Craft ID (in past official communication, documentation, or other community resources) refer to features that have been rolled into the new platform.
Welcome to Craft Console #
This article covers features of our centralized license management tool, Craft Console. Sign in to follow along!
If this will be your first time using Craft Console, get started by creating an account. Not sure if you have an account? Request a password reset link with your email address.
We have a companion article intended for clients and site owners that covers the critical path to creating an organization, setting up billing info, and inviting their first team member!
Overview #
There are two ways that you will interact with Craft Console: your personal account, and organizations.
Switch between your individual account and organizations you are a member of with the context menu.
Individual/Private Accounts #
When signing up for an account, use your own name and email address—even if you are doing so on behalf of your employer or a client. Accounts are intended to be personal and private. Any time you need to share access with a colleague, you will use an organization.
All license management features are available to individual accounts.
The individual account profile form. Add your full name and a profile image to distinguish yourself in the context menu, and in organizations’ member lists.
Organizations #
Organizations are not accounts, and therefore do not have a username or password to log in. Rather, organizations delegate access to members via their personal accounts.
The primary function of organizations is to formalize the process of purchasing licenses on behalf of clients—without the need to retroactively transfer ownership, or to share login credentials.
An organization is required to access some developer features, like submitting plugins to the plugin store.
The organization profile form. When you are a member of many organizations, a logo and highlight color can help you identify them quickly.
Existing Users #
If you or a client had an account prior to the launch of Craft Console (at the time, Craft ID), we encourage you to update it with the above in mind—many users signed up on behalf of their business, intending to share a single login with their team or a developer. This process is made more secure with organizations: each team member maintains their own account, and can be added to or removed from the organization by an owner.
Organizations cannot be members of other organizations, so in order to access a client’s organization, the client must directly invite anyone responsible for managing licenses on their behalf.
This is frequently the case for developers—if all your clients (or your employer’s clients) have their own organizations, you may want to maintain a single shared account for your team, rather than having a client invite individual team members.
Regardless of how you choose to structure accounts on your side of the equation, it’s never too late to get your client set up with an organization, or to transfer any licenses you hold on their behalf.
Plugin Developers #
When Craft Console launched, any developer accounts with a plugin available in the Plugin Store automatically had those plugins migrated to a new organization, inheriting the name on their account. Your personal account remains unchanged—but you may find it clearer to update either the new organization or your existing account to reflect the structure of your business.
Creating an Organization #
Once you have a personal account, you can create an organization from the context menu in the upper-left corner, or by visiting the Organizations tab in the main menu.
A fresh account without access to any organizations.
Creating a new organization.
A name and slug are required to create an organization. Adding a URL, logo, and color can help identify organizations you are a member of—especially in the context menu!
A new organization, without any licenses.
Inviting Members to an Organization #
As the owner of an organization, you can invite other users and give them the Admin or Member role.
Before inviting a new member, be sure and ask them what email they would like to use! They may already have a Craft Console account, and invites cannot be accepted by an account under a different email.
Inviting an Admin to an organization. An email will be sent to the address(es) provided.
Roles #
It’s important to choose an appropriate role for new organization members.
As the owner of an organization, you have a few special capabilities:
- Transfer ownership to another member;
- Set up a payment source and billing information;
Users you invite can be given one of two roles:
Member
All members get a limited set of capabilities:
- Manage Craft & plugin licenses;
- Purchase or request approval for Craft & plugin licenses;
- View order history;
- View plugin sales data;
Admin
In addition to the base member capabilities, admin can:
- Edit organization profile information;
- Manage members and roles;
- Manage the organization’s Partner Network profile;
- Manage plugins and the organization’s Plugin Store profile;
- Manage connected apps;
- Reset the organization’s API token;
Joining an Organization #
All invites generate an email. If the invitee’s email matches an existing account, they will be able to sign in and accept the invite; if there is no account on file, they will create a password and be automatically added to the organization.
An email is sent to the invitee, whether or not they have a Craft Console account.
New users accept an invitation to join an organization by creating an account.
Existing users can view pending invitations by logging in and visiting the Organizations tab.
Managing Payment Information #
Payment Methods are always added to your personal account, then attached to an organization.
Only the owner of an organization can update its Billing settings, and they may only select a payment method belonging to their personal account. The owner is also able to choose whether orders made by members require approval.
Billing settings for an individual account, showing the added payment methods.
An organization’s Billing settings, including its selected payment method and order approval policy.
Working with Licenses #
Craft and plugin licenses can be purchased and owned directly by individual accounts, or by an organization. Licenses can also be transferred between accounts or from an account to an organization.
Making a Purchase #
You can make purchases from the Plugin Store via the control panel of an existing Craft installation, or directly from plugins.craftcms.com.
The cart as it appears when accessed via the Craft CMS control panel. Click Checkout to continue to Craft Console.
Back on Craft Console, you will be asked to choose which cart you want to add items to and check out with.
When using your personal cart, you will be able to check out immediately.
Organization-specific carts may require you to request approval for an order before it is completed.
Order Approval #
Owners and admin can make purchases via their organization cart without approval. Members’ capabilities, on the other hand, are governed by the Require order approval setting in the Billing settings of an organization.
When this option is on, organization members must submit the order for approval.
Juggling licenses for multiple clients? You can switch between active carts (and your personal cart) from the bottom of any cart screen.
Checking out as a member of an organization may require approval.
The organization owner is notified of the request via email, and they alone are allowed to approve it. Orders are not paid for (or authorized) until approved.
When placing or requesting approval for an order on behalf of an organization, only the payment method configured by the organization owner can be used.
Pending orders appear at the top of the organization owner’s Orders screen.
If an organization’s payment method requires 3D Secure, only the owner will be able to complete a purchase.
Transferring Licenses #
Licenses can be transferred between accounts, or in and out of organizations.
Transfers always begin from a License’s Danger Zone.
From here, you can Release a license (so it can be claimed by another account holder or organization), or Transfer it directly to an organization you are a member of.
Transferring a license from a personal account to an organization. When transferring a CMS license that has plugin licenses attached to it, you will be prompted to transfer them at the same time.
Licenses held by a personal account can only be transferred to an organization, but licenses held by an organization can be transferred to a member or to another organization that the current user is a member of.
A license must be released in order for another personal account to claim it. These processes are discussed elsewhere in the Knowledge Base:
Need to transfer licenses in bulk? Reach out to support.