Only shown the pretty site
What to see in the admin panel before paying for a site: 10 checks
You've been shown how clients will see the site. Ask to see how you will work with it. 10 actions worth doing in the admin panel yourself before you pay.
Download the checklist (PDF)Buttons are named differently in each system. What matters is whether you can do it without a developer.
Prepare
- An admin demo on a site the studio already built on the same system
- Your three most frequent site tasks: e.g. a promo, a price, a new service
- The employee who will run the site — have them at the demo too
- A timer and screen recording on your phone
How to go through
- 1Click yourselfGet a demo login. A presentation doesn't count: the presenter never gets stuck.From you: Demo login or video call
- 2Time it and take notesHow many minutes it took, where you got stuck, what you had to ask.From you: A timer
- 3Problems go in the contractWhat didn't work: send it as a list and add it to the spec before paying.From you: One letter
Every day
You change the site yourself
What you and your staff will do most often. How convenient this is decides how much time and money goes in after launch.
1. A new service or product takes 5 minutes, no developer needed
Check it yourself- Why
- A good admin panel stores a service as a card with fields: name, price, photo, description. Fill them in and the service appears in the list, the menu and site search by itself.
- How to check
- Ask them to add a service while you watch, then add a second one yourself. Time it.
- Fine if
- You fill in the fields, click «Publish» — the service is in its place and looks just as neat on a phone.
- Warning sign
- «For a new service we'll lay out a page» — so every new service will be paid work.
- What to ask
- «If in a year we have 50 services, will I add them myself or will it be a separate order?»
2. An employee manages alone — with instructions, without you or the studio
Check it yourself- Why
- The studio shows the admin panel fast and confidently. Your employee will find it harder. If they're afraid to break something, the site will stop being updated.
- How to check
- Give your employee the instructions and a task: replace a promo photo and text. Watch silently, don't prompt.
- Fine if
- Done in about 10 minutes. Fields have clear labels and hints, e.g. what photo size is needed. The instructions are for your site, not generic.
- Warning sign
- Asks you at every step or says «I'm afraid to break something».
- What to ask
- «Are instructions for our site included in the price — as text or video?»
3. A change can be previewed before publishing and scheduled for a date
Check it yourself- Why
- Without drafts every edit is instantly visible to clients, errors included. Without scheduling, someone has to switch off Friday's promo by hand.
- How to check
- Change a text and, without publishing, open the preview on your phone. Then give a promo a start and end date.
- Fine if
- You see the edit, while clients see the old version until you click «Publish». The promo turns on and off by itself.
- Warning sign
- «There's no preview, make changes at night when there are few visitors».
4. A mistake can be rolled back: you see who changed what
Check it yourself- Why
- Sooner or later someone will delete an important text. Ideally, bringing it back takes a minute, not a request to the studio and a search through backups.
- How to check
- Change a text, save. Find the change history and restore the previous version. Delete a test page and restore it.
- Fine if
- You see who changed what and when. The previous version comes back in one action. Deleted items are in the trash.
- What to ask
- «How long is the change history kept, and can I restore a deleted page without you?»
Lots of data
One change, one action
When you have more than one product, branch or language, an awkward admin panel turns a five-minute edit into a working day.
5. Prices of 50 products change in one action or via a spreadsheet
Ask to be shown- Why
- If prices change one card at a time, 200 products mean a day of work and pricing errors.
- How to check
- Ask them to show how to raise prices by 10% for a whole category. And how to export products to Excel and import them back.
- Fine if
- There's a bulk change by category or export and import via a spreadsheet (Excel, CSV). Before importing you see what will change.
- Warning sign
- «Only one card at a time» or «we'll import the spreadsheet for you — that's separate work».
- What to ask
- «How do I change prices for a whole category myself? Can I export and import products as a spreadsheet?»
6. Address, phone and opening hours change in one place — everywhere
Check it yourself- Why
- Contacts appear in the header, the footer, the contact page and for every branch. If each place is edited separately, one will be forgotten.
- How to check
- Change the phone number in the admin panel. Check every place on the site where it appears, in every language.
- Fine if
- Changed in one place — updated everywhere. Each branch has its own card with address and hours.
- Warning sign
- You have to find and change the phone number on every page.
7. Languages are in one card, and you see what isn't translated
Check it yourself- Why
- If each language is a separate copy of the site, prices and promos in Russian and Romanian will soon drift apart.
- How to check
- Open one service and change the price. Check that it changed in all languages. Add text in one language only and see what the other one shows.
- Fine if
- Languages switch inside one card. Price and photo are entered once. You see what isn't translated yet.
- Warning sign
- Each language is a separate site or a separate page edited by hand.
Photos and search
Images and fields for Google
Owners usually leave this to the developer forever, though a good admin panel lets you do it yourself.
8. A phone photo uploads as is, and the site resizes it by itself
Check it yourself- Why
- Heavy photos are a common cause of a slow site. Your employee shouldn't need to compress images — that's the system's job.
- How to check
- Upload a photo straight from your phone. See how it looks on the site on a phone and a computer. Find the field for the photo description.
- Fine if
- The system resizes and crops photos by itself. There's a photo description field: Google and blind visitors read it.
- Warning sign
- You're asked to send the developer photos «in the right size».
9. You change the Google title, page address and messenger preview image
Check it yourself- Why
- These fields show in search and in link previews in messengers. If only the developer can change them, usually nobody does.
- How to check
- Open any service and find the fields «Search title», «Description», «Page address», «Social image».
- Fine if
- Every page and product has them, in every language. When an address changes, the old link leads to the new one.
- Warning sign
- There are no such fields, or they're shared across the whole site.
- What to ask
- «If I change a page address, will old links keep working?»
Access
Everyone has their own login and rights
10. Everyone has their own login: a manager edits services but can't break the site
Check it yourself- Why
- With a shared login you can't tell who did what or switch off one person. Giving each person only the rights they need is standard security practice.
- How to check
- Ask them to create a manager login that can only edit services and prices. Log in as that user and try to open site settings. Then disable the login yourself.
- Fine if
- Everyone has their own login and rights, with a phone code at sign-in. You disable a departing employee yourself in a minute.
- Warning sign
- One shared login for everyone, or the main access only with the studio.
- What to ask
- «What roles does the admin panel have, and can I create and disable staff logins myself?»
Why before paying The admin system is chosen at the start of the project. Making it more convenient after launch almost always means paid rework. Before the contract, it's one line in the spec.
Letter to the studio: show me the admin panel
Send it before the prepayment. Calm tone: you're not testing the studio, you're agreeing in advance how you'll work with the site.
Letter template
Hello [name], Before signing the contract, I'd like to see how my staff and I will work with the site. Could you please show me the admin panel — on a test site or on a site you've already built on the same system? I'd like to try it myself: 1) add a service or product; 2) change prices for a whole category or import them as a spreadsheet; 3) change the phone number and opening hours so they update across the whole site and in all languages; 4) preview an edit before publishing and restore the previous version; 5) create a staff login with limited rights. Also, could you tell me: — whether instructions for our site are included in the price; — whether these items can be written into the specification. Would [date] work for a 30-minute video call? Thank you! [Name]
Frequently asked questions
The studio says they'll show the admin panel after launch. What now?
Ask them to show it on another site of theirs built on the same system, or to send a screen recording. If there's nothing to show, write the actions you need into the spec: then you can require them at acceptance.
I have a small business card site. Do I need all 10 items?
No. For a five-page site in one language, the key ones are 1, 2, 4 and 10. Bulk changes and languages matter when you have dozens of products or services and more than one language.
The site is on a builder (Tilda, Wix). Should I check this too?
Yes, most items work the same. Staff roles, change history and languages depend on the builder's plan — check in advance which plan the site will be on and who pays for it.
Which content management system should I choose?
I don't recommend systems by name. What matters is that your people can do these 10 actions comfortably. The same system can be convenient or awkward depending on how it was set up.
The site is handed over and the admin panel is awkward. Too late?
No. Go through the checks and write down what doesn't work. If it was in the spec, it's a fix under the contract; if not, it's extra work. How to tell — in «Warranty fix or extra work» in the Documents section.
Want me to check your contract before you pay?
From €150 · 2 working days. I'll read your contract and spec and show what to add about the admin panel.