User Permissions

What are Elements User Permissions?

Not every user who is a member of the Space can see or use all the features. Access and management of different features, and even different maps and models, is controlled by User Permissions.

Click to open Learning Objectives

LO1-1 Understanding the permission model on Spaces

LO1-2 Being able to change the permissions on a user on a Space

LO1-3 Understanding the permissions on Maps and Models

LO1-4 Being able to change the permissions on a user on a map or org model

What are the types of permissions?

In Elements we have 2 types of permissions: Space permissions and content permissions. This diagram outlines how these fit together, and the permissions are described in full below. 

Space permissions

Space permissions control who can create, edit, manage and delete data for some key areas of the product.

On a Space, any user can have one of 2 core roles:

  • Viewer: this is the default role for any user added to a Space. Viewers can see content (subject to content permissions) but cannot change it in any way.
  • Editor: Editor role allows users to change, add or remove content (or users) within a Space. The Space permissions need to be enabled for a user with an editor role to allow them to change a particular area of the Space.By default, any user with an Editor role can create a new map or a new reference model within a Space. They can also be granted edit rights on existing maps and reference models. But more on that later. There are a range of Space permissions for Editors:

Click to learn about Space permissions

  • Space Admin: can set other Space Admins, manage users and connections to other systems like Salesforce & JIRA, and generally change all Space-wide settings.
  • Requirements Manager: by default any user can raise and submit a requirement. However, only a Requirements Manager can manage a requirement (and a user story) through the whole lifecycle.
  • Resource Manager: can edit, merge and delete resources in the Resource Library. Any resource manager can add resources to the Resources Library by simply adding them to an activity box on one of their diagrams.
  • Data Table Manager: can create and edit all data table templates, and run reports on data tables. Any user can populate data tables when they are linked to activity boxes.
  • Release Manager: can publish new versions of the diagrams and request user training on new content.
  • URL Library Manager: can manage the URL links stored in the URL Library, allowing them to use the same link multiple times and update all of them from the library if necessary.

The support article showing you how to edit space permissions is here (Space Permissions), and you should review it before moving on to the module Quiz.

Content permissions

There are separate ‘content’ permissions for Maps, Org Models and Reference models which work a bit differently from Space permissions.

For example, a user with an editor role and a ‘requirement manager’ permission can edit any requirement, user story or feedback in a Space. However, the same user cannot edit, manage or delete all Maps, Org models or Reference models in a Space. This is because those permissions need to be granted to the user separately on each one of those 3 types of item separately.

There are 4 types of content permissions:

  • Owner: The user who owns a particular Map, Reference model or Org model. They control all access and permissions of other users. They are also the only users who can give other users the ‘manager’ permission.
  • Manager: The same as the owner’s permission in every single aspect except for the ability to change the owner and other managers.
  • Editor: Can edit diagrams within a map or can add, edit and remove attachments and links in Org models and Reference models.
  • Viewer: Can access and view diagrams within a map and all attachments and links within Org Models and Reference Models, but cannot change or edit anything.

A user with an editor role in the Space can be a viewer on 3 maps but an owner of 2 other maps; they can be a viewer on one Org Model, an Editor on another, and the Manager on another two. The content permissions are specific to each map or model.

The support articles showing you how to edit content area permissions are here (Map permissions, Org and Reference Model permissions), and you should review them before moving on to the module Quiz.

What ‘s next

Next, you will take a short, theory and practical quiz. Select it from the menu below.

This quiz will help you to recognise the skills and knowledge you have gained, and identify any areas you still need to explore and learn.

Remember, you can revisit these pages, or ask us for help if you get stuck. Once you pass the quiz, click “Next Module” to move on to Module 4.

Back to