Reference → Site Manager

Site Manager

Field	Value
Audience	public
Page type	reference
Area	sg-dashboard
Updated	2026-05-25

How Site Manager organises and controls every site under the account.

Site Manager is the account-tier surface in SG-Dashboard where every site under the account appears as a card. From here, operators open environments, manage settings, invite users, and point domains — without descending into a specific site's admin. One surface, every site, all the controls that matter at the account level.

What is this for?

Read this page when you want the structural definition of Site Manager — what the surface lists, what each site card contains, and which controls route you where.

Good use cases

You manage more than one site and need a single surface to navigate between them.
A new site was provisioned and you want to point its domain, open staging, or invite a team member.
You need to enter a site's staging or live environment quickly, with or without logging in.
You are explaining to a stakeholder how SGEN organises multi-site access at the account tier.
You are designing an internal SOP for new-site setup and need to document the starting point.

What NOT to use this for

Per-site configuration beyond the site card — open Manage Site Settings or descend into the admin.
Account-level billing — open Billing inside SG-Dashboard.
Cross-site analytics rollup — open the Analytics surface.
Per-step domain or setup procedures — open the relevant Guide.
Per-release shipped change — open What's New or Changelog.

How this connects to other features

SG-Dashboard Overview — parent surface; Site Manager lives inside it.
Stage & Live — the environment model that the site-card access links connect to.
Analytics — account-tier analytics rollup reachable from each site card.
Advanced Settings — account-tier preferences that apply across every site.
Client Manager — the multi-account routing surface for agency operators.

Definition

Site Manager in SG-Dashboard is the account-tier site inventory. It presents one card per site under the account and exposes the controls that matter at the account level: environment access, domain setup, user management, and site settings routing.

The defining property is account-tier inventory. Site Manager does not replace SG-Admin — it routes you there. The controls on each card are the entry points, not the full feature set.

Purpose

This page defines Site Manager as a Reference layer. It explains the card model, what controls appear per site, and how Site Manager connects to the environment and settings surfaces that operators use daily.

Scope

This page covers Site Manager at the Reference level.

The page covers:

The site-card model and what each card contains.
The environment access controls (staging and live entry points).
Domain setup, user management, and settings routing.
The boundary against per-site admin work and against billing.

The page does not cover:

Per-step setup or configuration procedures — Guides.
Per-site admin features — SG-Admin.
Billing and subscription management — Billing.

The site-card model

Site Manager presents one card per site. Each card is self-contained: it identifies the site, surfaces its current state, and exposes the controls you need without requiring a deeper descent.

Site identity

The card header carries the domain name, the site's display label (if set), and the current environment state (live-ready, staging-only, domain-pending).

Environment state indicators

The state indicator on each card tells you at a glance whether the site's live environment is ready, whether DNS is still resolving, or whether a billing condition is affecting availability. You read the state; you do not configure it from here.

Site-card controls

The controls on each card group into four areas:

Control area	What it does
View Staging Site / Login to Stage	Opens the staging environment in a new tab — without login or with SG-Admin already open
Visit Live Site / Login to Live	Opens the live environment in a new tab — without login or with SG-Admin already open
Point your domain	Starts the DNS setup flow so the live environment can become publicly reachable
Manage Site Settings	Opens the site-specific settings surface inside SG-Dashboard
Add users	Opens the invite modal so team members can be granted access by email

Account · Site Manager

Sites — 3 sites

sgen-client.comLive · ready

staging.sgen-client.comDomain pending

Environment access controls

The staging and live access controls on each card route you into the correct environment without requiring you to remember separate admin URLs.

Staging access

View Staging Site opens the staging build as a visitor would see it. Login to Stage opens the same environment with the admin session already active. Use staging for content work, configuration review, and any changes that need verification before they reach the live site.

Live access

Visit Live Site opens the live public site. Login to Live opens the live site with SG-Admin active. Both controls appear on the card when the live environment is ready. If the domain has not propagated or the certificate has not provisioned, the live controls are present but the live tab may not yet behave as a finished production site.

Domain setup

Point your domain starts the flow that connects the site's production domain to the SGEN-hosted environment. The DNS step happens in the operator's domain registrar — SGEN surfaces the target record value and confirms when propagation is detected. Once the domain is pointed and the certificate provisions, the live controls become fully usable.

Settings routing

Manage Site Settings opens the per-site settings surface inside SG-Dashboard. From there, Google Integrations, Reporting Settings, and Locations are configurable for that site specifically. Settings here are per-site and scoped to the SG-Dashboard layer — they are not the same as SG-Admin settings inside the site itself.

User access

Add users opens an invite modal. The operator enters the user's email address and sends the invite. The invited user receives access to the relevant site. For creating users directly inside the admin without using the invite flow, use the admin Users area for that site.

Constraints and boundaries

Site Manager is the account-tier entry point to individual sites. It is not a substitute for the full feature set inside the admin or for account-level billing work.

Use Site Manager for:

Navigating to the correct site quickly.
Opening staging or live environments.
Pointing a domain, managing users, or routing to site settings.

Do not use Site Manager for:

Per-site admin features — descend into the admin via Login to Stage or Login to Live.
Account billing and subscription management — open Billing.
Account-tier analytics rollup — open Analytics.

Public boundary

This page is intentionally public-safe. It does not expose provisioning internals, environment topology, or protected operational identifiers.

Examples

Example 1 — Operator opens a site's staging environment after a new build

The operator opens SG-Dashboard, finds the new client's site card in Site Manager, clicks Login to Stage, and lands directly in the admin for the staging environment. Content review starts without hunting for a staging URL.

Example 2 — Domain has not propagated; operator continues in staging

A new site is provisioned. The site card shows "Domain pending." The operator uses View Staging Site to inspect the build while the DNS step settles. Point your domain is the next action once the registrar is ready.

Example 3 — Team member needs access before the site launches

The operator opens Site Manager, finds the correct card, clicks Add users, enters the new team member's email, and sends the invite. The team member receives access to that site's environment. The operator does not need to open the admin to complete this step.

Documentation guidance

Use this page as the structural definition for the Site Manager surface. Procedural detail belongs in Guides (How to Complete Site Setup, How to Point Your Domain, How to Add Users). Per-release behavior change belongs in What's New or Changelog.

Reading order

Open this page when scoping how site-level access and control are organised in SG-Dashboard. Pair with Stage & Live for the environment model, and with the relevant Guides for step-by-step procedures.

Vocabulary cross-reference

Site card is the per-site panel in Site Manager that carries identity, state, and controls.
Staging environment is the non-production build of the site, available immediately after provisioning.
Live environment is the public production site, reachable after the domain is pointed and the certificate provisions.
Domain pending is the state where the A record has not yet propagated or the certificate has not yet issued.
Manage Site Settings is the SG-Dashboard-tier per-site settings surface (distinct from the admin settings).

Maintenance discipline

When Site Manager behavior changes across releases (new card control, new state indicator, new settings routing), update this Reference and log the change in Changelog.

Guides

Reference

Changelog

Roadmap