Mane vs. Den Role – Oasis Resource Center

🦁 Mane vs. Den: Understanding Content Lion’s Role Hierarchy

In Content Lion, Manes and Dens are core structural elements that define how content and permissions are organized across your organization.

Let’s break it down with clear definitions, examples, and visuals using our customer, Austin Farm Sanctuary as an example.

Key Concepts ( Den, Mane, Item )

Before diving into roles, let’s define a few key terms:

Den: A Den is your organization’s master account with Content Lion. Think of it like a central hub. For example, Austin Farm Sanctuary has one Den.

Mane: A Mane is a complete application environment within a Den—this could be your production site, a test site, or even region-specific variations. Austin Farm Sanctuary might have:

AustinFarm.com (Prod Mane)

AustinFarm-Staging

AustinFarm-VolunteerPortal

Pieces of a Mane: these are the makeup that create a Den. (Repositories, sites, dev components, etc.)

Metaphor for Key Terms

Let’s now think of these roles, but clarifying them into a simple metaphor: Imagine your organization is an airport.

🏢 Airport = Den → Austin Farm Sanctuary

✈️ Planes = Manes → Each one serves a unique purpose (prod, staging, dev)

📦 Cargo = Pieces → Repos, Sites, Dev Components delivered inside each Mane

🛫 Den = The Airport (e.g., Austin Farm Sanctuary Airport)

A Den is your organization’s master account—the central hub that manages everything.

Think of Austin Farm Sanctuary as the name of the airport. All flights (applications) and cargo (content) operate under this Den.

🛩 Mane = The Airplane (e.g., Environment)

A Mane is a complete application environment—like a plane headed to a specific destination.

For Austin Farm Sanctuary, they might have:

📦 Pieces = The Cargo Boxes (e.g., Items)

Peices are any individual piece within a Mane: a repository, a site, or a dev component.

These are the boxes loaded onto each plane and organized content, code, and structure.

🏢 Den-Level Roles

Den-level roles manage the entire organization’s infrastructure in Content Lion. From creating new environments to controlling who can access what. These roles sit above any single application or site.

Only Two Den-Level Roles

These roles operate at the organizational level, not within a specific application (or "plane"). They oversee the full flight deck — in the software it means governing all the projects, environments, users, and financials across your Content Lion Den.

Imagine your organization is an airport. Each piece of it has a role to play—from managing gates to flying planes.

Another metaphor, Who runs the airport? These (Den Admins) are your air traffic controllers.

Den-level roles are like air traffic controllers. They manage your entire Content Lion organization (your “airport”)—from setting up environments to controlling who has access to what. These roles sit above any single project, application, or site.

✈️ If a Mane is a plane, Den Admins run the whole airport (as they are Den Administrators). Den Admins are making sure the right planes (applications) take off, have crew (users), and follow flight rules (which are permissions).

With that in mind, let’s meet the two key roles in the control tower—the people who keep the airport (your Den) running smoothly from a high level.

1️⃣👑 Den Administrator

Assigns the team members based on responsibilities.

Example: Jessie, CTO of Austin Farm Sanctuary, is a Den Admin. She sets up the main website (Production Mane), creates a staging environment (Test Mane), and assigns team members to each based on their responsibilities.

Full control over the entire Den. Can:

Create, copy, edit, and delete Manes

Add/remove users across any Mane

Set permissions

Appoint other Den Admins or Finance Admins

2️⃣ 💳 Finance Administrator

The person with the keys to the vault. Finance Admins focus on the money side of your Den. They don’t build apps or manage users—but they handle everything related to billing and payment visibility.

Example: Sam from the finance team can view billing history, get invoices, and set up alerts but doesn’t access the actual content or Manes.

Another example :

💰 Think of them as the CFO of the airport—monitoring fuel costs, runway fees, and sending the invoices—but not flying the planes.

Den Role Chart

Permission	Den Admin	Finance Admin
Create/Edit/Delete Manes	✅	❌
Add/Remove Users to any Mane	✅	❌
Access Billing Info	✅	✅
Receive Billing Alerts	✅	✅

🧩 Mane-Level Roles

Roles within a specific Mane control what users can do inside a particular project—repos, sites, dev work, etc.

Role Name	Summary
Mane Admin	Full control over one Mane. Manages users, permissions, and all content/dev areas.
Content Admin	Full repo access across the Mane.
Content Admin Lite	Repo access only for repos they manage.
Site Admin	Full access to all Sites in the Mane.
Site Admin Lite	Access only to Sites they manage.
Dev Admin	Full control over all dev components.
Dev Admin Lite	Dev control only on assigned components.
Enterprise User	Basic access. No creation/edit permissions.

🧱 Mane Role Capabilities in a Snapshot ( Finalized by BW)

This table provides a snapshot of user roles and their relative capabilities within the system. Roles are listed from highest to lowest in terms of access and control:

Capability	Mane Admin	Content Admin	Site Admin	Dev Admin	Lite Variants
Create/Edit/Delete Repos	✅	✅	❌	❌	Only managed items
Manage Sites	✅	❌	✅	❌	Only managed sites
Create/Edit Dev Components	✅	❌	❌	✅	Only managed components
Add/Remove Users to this Mane	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Modify Groups and Permissions	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Reset Passwords	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
API Authentication	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅ (Dev Lite)

🧪 Example: Austin Farm Sanctuary Team Roles

Team Member	Role	Responsibility	Role Description
Alex (Founder)	Mane Admin	Oversees Everything	Full access across all content, sites, development, and admin settings. Can view and manage all other roles and their variants.
Jessie (CTO)	Den Admin	Manages all environments and users	Oversees all environments, user permissions, and system configurations.
Sam (Finance)	Finance Admin	Access to billing only	Access to billing, subscription management, and finance settings only.
Mia (Content Lead)	Content Admin	Manages all content repositories	Manages all assets, content types, and content items. Cannot access site or development configurations.
Tyler (Engineer)	Dev Admin Lite	Manages the Volunteer Portal's code	Manages integrations, code environments, and API configurations. No editorial or visual page access.
Emma (Volunteer Manager)	Site Admin Lite	Manages the volunteer-facing site only	Controls page structures, layout configurations, and channel publishing. No access to content modeling or dev tools.
Carlos (Intern)	Lite Variants	Has read-only access to review assets + Reviews content in a limited scope	Has read-only or task-specific access. Cannot view or edit anything outside assigned areas.