Admin Category Restrictions¶

Purpose¶

Admin Category Restrictions allow you to create admin users who can only see items and orders within specific product categories. This is useful when you want to delegate management to admins who should only handle certain departments or product lines, without giving them access to the entire catalog.

Overview¶

This feature enables you to:

Create department-specific admins who only see relevant items and orders
Restrict item and order visibility based on product categories
Filter order items so admins only see items in their assigned categories
Restrict the Items resource so admins only see items belonging to their assigned categories
Maintain full order-level fields (status, notes, address) while restricting item visibility
Use hierarchical categories — assigning a parent category grants access to all its subcategories

How It Works¶

Who Is an Admin?¶

An admin (in this context) is any user who:

Has the access_admin_panel permission (can log into the admin panel)
Is not a Super Admin

This includes both regular admin users and vendors. Vendors are handled separately through their own ownership model, but they share the same category assignment mechanism. Super admins always see everything and are never restricted.

Category Restriction Behavior¶

Scenario	What They See
Admin with no assigned categories	All items, all orders, and all order items (no restriction)
Admin with assigned categories	Only items in assigned categories; only orders containing items in assigned categories
Super Admin (regardless of assignments)	All items, all orders, and all order items

Within an order, when an admin has category restrictions:

They see only the order items that belong to their assigned categories
Order-level information (status, total, address, notes) is fully visible
Order totals reflect all items (not just the visible ones)

Category Hierarchy¶

Assigning a parent category automatically grants access to all its subcategories:

Assign "Electronics" → admin sees items and orders in "Electronics", "Smartphones", "Laptops", etc.
No need to assign each subcategory individually

Setting Up an Admin¶

Step 1: Create a Role¶

Go to Modules → User Management → Roles
Click New Role
Name it (e.g., "Order Helper" or "Department Manager")
Grant the access_admin_panel permission
Grant order permissions: view_order, view_any_order, and optionally update_order
Click Create

Step 2: Assign the Role to a User¶

Go to Modules → User Management → Users
Edit the user
In the Advanced tab, assign the role you created
Make sure the user is Active
Click Save

Step 3: Assign Categories¶

Category assignments are managed from the User edit page:

Assigned Categories

The Assigned Categories tab on the user edit page

Go to Modules → User Management → Users
Edit the user
Scroll to the Assigned Categories section
Click Assign Category
Select the categories this admin should manage
The admin will now only see items and orders within these categories

Removing Category Assignments¶

Edit the user and remove categories from the Assigned Categories list
Removing all category assignments restores full visibility for that admin

Note: Unlike vendors, removing an admin's category assignment does not disable any products — admins (non-vendor) do not own items.

What Admins Can See¶

Items List¶

Only items that belong to the admin's assigned categories appear in the Items resource
All standard filters and search work within the restricted set

Orders List¶

Only orders that contain at least one item in the admin's assigned categories appear
Status tab counts reflect only the filtered orders
All standard filters and search work within the restricted set

Order View/Edit¶

Order-level information is fully visible and editable (status, customer info, delivery, notes)
The Order Items tab only shows items in the admin's assigned categories
Items from other categories are hidden
Order totals reflect all items (including hidden ones)

Differences from Vendor Restrictions¶

Aspect	Vendor	Admin
Order filter	By ownership (`vendor_user_id`)	By item categories
Order items	Sees all items (all are theirs)	Sees only items in assigned categories
Items/Categories	Restricted to assigned categories	Restricted to assigned categories
Owns products	Yes	No
Removing category disables items	Yes	No

Common Workflows¶

Department Manager Setup¶

For a clothing store with Electronics and Fashion departments:

Create role "Electronics Manager" with order view/update permissions
Assign role to user
Assign "Electronics" parent category to user
The manager now only sees electronics items and orders containing electronics items

Multi-Department Admin¶

Assign multiple categories to one admin:

Assign both "Electronics" and "Books" categories
The admin sees items and orders that belong to either category
In mixed orders, they see only the electronics and book items

Troubleshooting¶

Q: Admin sees all orders even though I assigned categories. A: Make sure the user is not a Super Admin. Only users with the access_admin_panel permission who are not super admins are subject to category restrictions.

Q: Order totals don't match the visible items. A: This is expected. Order totals reflect all items in the order, including items from categories the admin cannot see.

Q: Assigned Categories tab doesn't appear on the user edit page. A: The tab appears for any user who is a vendor or has the access_admin_panel permission (and is not a super admin). Make sure the user meets one of these conditions.

Q: I removed all category assignments but the admin still can't see orders. A: Verify the user has the view_any_order and view_order permissions. Without category assignments, the admin should see all orders.

Roles - Create and manage permission roles
Users - Manage user accounts and role assignments
Categories - Manage product categories
Orders - Order management overview