# How administrator accounts work

Many elements are used in the configuration of administrator accounts, including Security Engine, Policy, Access Control List, Administrator Role, and Filter elements.

Two types of elements represent administrator accounts in the SMC:

- Administrator elements define accounts for administrators who are allowed to manage elements through the SMC Client or on the engine and view information in the Web Portal.
- Web Portal User elements define accounts for users who are allowed to view information in the Web Portal.
  Note: Accounts that are used to log on to the SMC Client can also be used to log on to the Web Portal. Web Portal User accounts that can only be used to log on to the Web Portal are created separately.

The elements used with Administrator elements:

Figure: Elements for administrator account definitions

- Administrator Roles define sets of allowed actions.
- Access Control Lists contain elements and allow you to more easily apply the Administrator Roles to several engines and policies. There are some default Access Control List elements that are automatically populated and can represent additional element types.
- If an administrator is allowed to view logs, you can use Filters to select which logs are displayed to the administrator.
- If you use administrative Domains, you can give administrators access to any number of Domains.