Roles & Permissions

What are Roles?

Roles determine what actions users can perform within an account. The platform uses a hierarchical role system where each role has different permissions and capabilities. Roles ensure that the right people have the right access to features and content.

The Four Role Levels

1. Owner

The Owner has complete control over the account.

Permissions:

• All permissions that Admins have
• Delete the entire account
• Manage billing and subscriptions
• Transfer account ownership to another user
• Final authority on all account decisions

Use Cases:

• Account creator
• Primary decision maker for the team/department
• Person responsible for billing

Important Notes:

• Each account can have multiple Owners
• Owners can promote other members to Owner status
• Be careful who you give Owner access to

2. Admin

Admins can manage most aspects of the account but cannot delete it or manage billing.

Permissions:

• All permissions that Moderators and Members have
• Invite and remove members
• Assign roles (Member, Moderator, Admin)
• Create, edit, and delete channels
• Create, edit, and delete community spaces
• Create, edit, and delete courses and lessons
• Manage categories and tags
• Edit and delete any content (posts, comments, messages)
• Access account-level admin areas

Use Cases:

• Team leaders
• Department managers
• Content administrators
• Trusted senior members

3. Moderator

Moderators help manage and moderate content and community interactions.

Permissions:

• All permissions that Members have
• Edit and delete any messages in channels
• Edit and delete any posts in community spaces
• Edit and delete comments
• Moderate community discussions
• Help enforce community guidelines

Cannot Do:

• Create or delete channels or spaces
• Invite or remove members
• Assign roles
• Access account settings

Use Cases:

• Community managers
• Content moderators
• Helpful senior members
• Subject matter experts helping manage discussions

4. Member

Members have standard access to participate in the account.

Permissions:

• View all content in the account
• Create posts in community spaces they've joined
• Comment on posts
• Vote on posts
• Send messages in channels
• Send direct messages to other members
• Enroll in and complete courses
• Follow and unfollow other members
• Edit and delete their own content (posts, comments, messages)
• Edit their own profile

Cannot Do:

• Create channels or spaces (unless promoted)
• Edit or delete others' content
• Invite new members
• Access admin areas

Use Cases:

• Regular team members
• Students or learners
• Community participants
• Most users in the account

Role Hierarchy

Permission Inheritance

Roles work hierarchically - higher roles include all permissions of lower roles:

Owner
  └── Can do everything Admins can + billing/deletion
      Admin
        └── Can do everything Moderators can + management
            Moderator
              └── Can do everything Members can + moderation
                  Member
                    └── Standard participation permissions

Managing Roles (Owner/Admin Only)

Viewing Member Roles

See what role each member has:

1. Go to Account Settings or Members
2. View the member list
3. Each member shows their assigned role

Assigning Roles

Change a member's role:

1. Go to the member list
2. Find the member
3. Click "Edit Role" or similar option
4. Select the new role from the dropdown
5. Save the changes

The member immediately gets the new permissions.

Promoting Members

Best practices when promoting members:

• Start with Member role for all new users
• Promote to Moderator for trusted community helpers
• Promote to Admin for team leaders and managers
• Only promote to Owner those who should have full control
• Consider a trial period before permanent promotions

Demoting Members

You can also reduce a member's role if needed:

• Same process as assigning roles
• Member loses access to higher-level features immediately
• Their previous actions/content remains unchanged
• Consider communicating the change and why

Permissions by Feature

Community Spaces

Channels

Learning Platform

Account Management

Best Practices

• Be selective with who gets Owner or Admin roles
• Start all new members at Member level
• Promote based on trust and need
• Have at least 2 Owners to prevent lockout
• Only edit/delete others' content when necessary

Special Permissions

Madmin Access

The Madmin admin interface is available only to users with the admin flag:

• This is separate from account-level Admin role
• Madmin access is platform-wide, not account-specific
• Only platform administrators should have this access
• Provides deep access to all data across all accounts

Learn more about Madmin

Global Account Roles

Roles in the Global Account work the same way, but affect platform-wide content accessible to all users.

Troubleshooting

If you can't perform an action, check your role level. Some actions require Admin or Owner permissions. Contact an Admin or Owner if you need additional access.

Related Documentation

• Madmin - Platform administration interface
• Community Spaces - Content creation permissions
• Channels - Channel management permissions