What are user roles and what permissions do they have in PolicyStat?

Objective

To understand the assorted roles (or permissions) that can be assigned to individuals in PolicyStat.

Environment

PolicyStat

Answer

There are 9 assorted user "roles" or permissions  Guest, Staff, User, Owner, Collaborator, Approver, Area Editor, Area Manager, and Site Administrator. Any of these permissions are assigned by a user with Site Administrator permissions.

Role	What Does The Role Do?	How is this assigned?	What documents can I edit?	Where can I find help in SupportHUB?
Guest	View and read a single policy (e.g. Vendor, Lawyer, Auditor, etc.)	Guest is provided a Read-Only Policy Sharing Link specific to a policy.	No edit permissions.	Not Applicable
Staff	Search for, view, and read any non-restricted policies across PolicyStat	Staff are provided a Global Guest Access link.	No edit permissions.	How do I Search for Policies?
User	Search for, view, and read any non-restricted policies across PolicyStat Acknowledge an assigned policy	A User account is created to login to PolicyStat.	No edit permissions.	PolicyStat Basics Introductory PolicyStat Education How do I Search for Policies? How do I Acknowledge a Policy?
Owner	Owners are responsible for editing and maintaining the documents for which they are assigned Edit any policies for which they are designated as the Owner Edit their own documents Start the review process when documents are due for review Approve if included in the workflow Comment during collaboration Create Read-Only Share links of polices they own Retire policies (if allowed by Site Administrator) Can view restricted documents they own Cannot create new documents	The user is assigned the document owner for at least one policy.	Edit and manage their assigned policies, drafts, and pending documents.	Any of the above links and: Editor 101: Basics Editor 201: Advanced Working with Word Training
Collaborator	Read and review a policy in a pending status Review comments made by other collaborators on a pending policy Add comments to a pending policy Invite other Users to collaborate on a pending policy	Any Users involved in the review process (e.g. Approver, Collaborator, etc.) can invite another User to collaborate through the comments section of a pending policy.	No edit permissions, but Collaborators can comment on pending documents and suggest changes. Collaborators are invited individually per document but can be part of a user group to make user selection easier.	Can I Invite Others to Collaborate on a Policy? Comments and Collaboration Training
Approver	Review and approve or edit policies as part of an Approval Workflow Edit a pending policy if they are part of the Approval Workflow Create Read-Only Share links of policies they approve Cannot start the Approval process or create drafts from active documents Can view restricted documents they approve	User is assigned to a step in an Approval Workflow.	Edit pending documents for which they are on the Approval Workflow during their step.	Any of the above links and: What are Approval Workflows? Approver Focused Training
Area Editor	Create new or edit any existing policies within the assigned Area(s) Create Read-Only Share links within assigned Area(s) View Restricted policies within their Area (or site-wide)	User is assigned create/edit permissions for a given Area or site-wide (if desired).	Create and Edit new, existing, and pending documents within their area(s).	Any of the above links and: Help with Creating New/Editing Existing Policies Policy Creation Training Path
Area Manager*	Create new or edit any existing policies within the assigned Area(s) Oversee and manage policies within assigned Area Assign and view Acknowledgments for any policy in their Area Create Read-Only Share links within area(s) View restricted policies within their Area (or site-wide) Retire policies (if allowed by Site Administrator) Create and Edit User Groups Cannot manage users or other settings and permissions	User is assigned create/edit/manage permissions for a selected Area or site-wide (if desired).	Create and Edit new, existing, and pending documents within their area(s).	Any of the above links and: Document Management Acknowledgments Training
Area Administrator	Create new or edit any existing policies within the assigned Area(s) Oversee and manage policies within assigned Area Create Read-Only Share links within Area Assign and view Acknowledgments for any policy in their Area View restricted policies within their Area (or site-wide) Retire policies Create and Edit User Groups  Perform policy overrides (including Approval Simulations) Cannot manage users or other settings and permissions * Receives email notifications for all documents in assigned areas	User is assigned administrator permissions for selected area(s) or site-wide (if desired) User does not have Admin Console access	Create, Edit, and Override new, existing, and pending documents within their area(s).	Any of the above links and: What's the Difference Between an Edit and an Override? How do I Override a Policy?
Site Administrator	Create new or edit any existing policies within any Area Oversee and manage any Areas via reports and notifications Assign and view Acknowledgments for any policy in their Area Create Read-Only Share, Guest Access, and Global Guest Access links View restricted policies site-wide Create, edit, and manage Areas, Approval Workflows, User profiles/permissions, and User Groups Perform policy overrides (including Approval Simulations) on any policy Override in bulk Retire and delete policies Reinstate retired policies Produce any report Print documents without watermark appearing	A User is assigned Site Administrator permissions site-wide. Areas do not need to be selected under permissions	Create, Edit, and Override new, existing, and pending documents on the site(s) they have administrative privileges.	Any of the above links and: Help for Site Administrators Site Administrator 101: Three Pillars of PolicyStat Site Administrator 201: Policy Management Site Administrator 301: Reports

Additional Information:

• Some terms or role names may differ for your location, but the concepts are universal.
• * Users are frequently granted Area Manager permissions when Area Editor permissions are sufficient. Area Managers are notified about all actions and requirements for all policies in their assigned Area(s). This can mean a lot of unnecessary emails and can result in unnecessary confusion about ownership or responsibilities.
• Only Site Administrators can assign elevated permissions.
  • For more information on setting user permissions, please see How do I set User Permissions?

• For multi-site systems, only one account per user is needed to allow access to all sites. Permissions are granted on a site-by-site basis, or can be granted in bulk.

• Roles / permissions can be assigned to an individual user on their profile or in bulk to multiple users for an Area. To learn how, see this article How do I set User Permissions by Area?

• User accounts can be provisioned automatically through integrations with Single Sign-On providers or your local Active Directory.
• Roles are not mutually exclusive.
  • An Owner can also be an Approver. PolicyStat’s best practice is to have the Owner serve as the first Approver on a Workflow.
  • An Area Manager can be an Owner provided the user has been granted permissions for both roles.
• Users can proxy for another user. A proxied user cannot log into their account unless the proxy is removed. For more on serving as a proxy, see What is a Proxy and how do I act as one?
• Users can only view pending and draft documents in Areas they have been assigned permissions to Edit.

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What About The Other Pillars of PolicyStat?

User Roles is one of the Three Pillars of PolicyStat. For more on the Three Pillars concept or to view the other two Pillars, see What are the core concepts of PolicyStat?