Collaboration and user management in the new Search Console
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Wednesday, August 29, 2018
As part of our reinvention of Search Console, we have been rethinking the models of facilitating
cooperation and accountability for our users. We decided to redesign the product around
cooperative team usage and transparency of action history. The new Search Console will gradually
provide better history tracking to show who performed which significant property-affecting
modifications, such as changing a setting, validating an issue or submitting a new sitemap. In
that spirit we also plan to enable all users to see critical site messages.
New features
User management is now an integral part of Search Console.
The new Search Console enables you toshare a read-only viewof many reports, including Index coverage, AMP, and Mobile Usability.
A new user management interface that enables all users to see and (if appropriate), manage user
roles for all property users.
New Role definition
In order to provide a simpler permission model, we are planning to limit the "restricted" user
role to read-only status. While being able to see all information, read-only users will no
longer be able to perform any state-changing actions, including starting a fix validation or
sharing an issue.
Best practices
As a reminder, here are some best practices for managing user permissions in Search Console:
Regularly audit and update the user permissions using theUsers and Permissionspage in new Search Console.
User feedback
As part of our Beta exploration, we released visibility of the user management interface to all
user roles. Some users reached out to request more time to prepare for the updated user management
model, including the ability of restricted and full users to easily see a list of other
collaborators on the site. We've taken that feedback and will hold off on that part of the launch.
Stay tuned for more updates relating to collaboration tools and changes on our permission models.
As always, we love to hear feedback from our users. You can use the feedback form within Search
Console, and we welcome your discussions in ourhelp forumsas well!
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eSearch Console is being redesigned to enhance team collaboration and transparency by tracking property modifications and enabling shared access to critical site messages.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eNew features include integrated user management, read-only report sharing for Index Coverage, AMP, and Mobile Usability, and a user management interface for managing property user roles.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "restricted" user role is transitioning to read-only status, limiting actions like fix validation and issue sharing while retaining full information access.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSearch Console recommends reviewing and adjusting user permissions regularly, revoking access for inactive users, and removing verification tokens when deleting verified owners.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe updated user management model's full launch, including collaborator list visibility, is postponed based on user feedback; further updates on collaboration tools and permission models are anticipated.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The updated Search Console focuses on team collaboration and transparency. Key changes include making user management integral, introducing read-only views for reports, and a redesigned user management interface for managing user roles. The \"restricted\" user role is limited to read-only, preventing state-changing actions. Best practices for managing permissions include granting only necessary permissions, regularly auditing user access, and revoking access when users leave. The release of some features, like full visibility of all collaborators, will be delayed due to user feedback.\n"],null,["# Collaboration and user management in the new Search Console\n\nWednesday, August 29, 2018\n\n\nAs part of our reinvention of Search Console, we have been rethinking the models of facilitating\ncooperation and accountability for our users. We decided to redesign the product around\ncooperative team usage and transparency of action history. The new Search Console will gradually\nprovide better history tracking to show who performed which significant property-affecting\nmodifications, such as changing a setting, validating an issue or submitting a new sitemap. In\nthat spirit we also plan to enable all users to see critical site messages.\n\nNew features\n------------\n\n- User management is now an integral part of Search Console.\n- The new Search Console enables you to [share a read-only view](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203#sharing_the_report) of many reports, including Index coverage, AMP, and Mobile Usability.\n- A new user management interface that enables all users to see and (if appropriate), manage user roles for all property users.\n\nNew Role definition\n-------------------\n\n\nIn order to provide a simpler permission model, we are planning to limit the \"restricted\" user\nrole to read-only status. While being able to see all information, read-only users will no\nlonger be able to perform any state-changing actions, including starting a fix validation or\nsharing an issue.\n\nBest practices\n--------------\n\n\nAs a reminder, here are some best practices for managing user permissions in Search Console:\n\n- Grant users only the permission level that they need to do their work. [See the permissions descriptions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615#permissions).\n- If you need to share an issue details report, click the Share link on that page.\n- Revoke permissions from users who no longer work on a property.\n- When removing a previous verified owner, be sure to [remove all verification tokens for that user](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615#manage-users).\n- Regularly audit and update the user permissions using the [Users and Permissions](https://search.google.com/search-console/users) page in new Search Console.\n\nUser feedback\n-------------\n\n\nAs part of our Beta exploration, we released visibility of the user management interface to all\nuser roles. Some users reached out to request more time to prepare for the updated user management\nmodel, including the ability of restricted and full users to easily see a list of other\ncollaborators on the site. We've taken that feedback and will hold off on that part of the launch.\nStay tuned for more updates relating to collaboration tools and changes on our permission models.\n\n\nAs always, we love to hear feedback from our users. You can use the feedback form within Search\nConsole, and we welcome your discussions in our\n[help forums](https://support.google.com/webmasters/go/community)\nas well!\n\nPosted by [John Mueller](https://johnmu.com/), Google Switzerland"]]
