Ultimate guide to user roles

What are roles?

In Good Grants, a user’s role controls which areas of the platform they can access and what actions they can take. Your account includes a number of default roles, and you can also configure custom roles if you need something more specific.

All roles and their permissions can be viewed and edited in the Manage workspace under Settings > Users > Roles.

Default account roles

Good Grants provides a range of default roles suitable for most programs.

Grant manager

• Has access to every workspace in Good Grants
• Can add other users as reviewers, chapter managers, or grant managers
• Can see all data, including hidden fields and reviewer comments

Applicant

• Has access to the Apply workspace
• Can view their own applications only
• Can create and submit their own applications
• Can vote if their role includes voting permissions
• Is the default role for home page registration

Reviewer

• Has access to the Review workspace
• Can only see and score applications assigned to them
• Can only see their own scores unless permissions are changed

Lead reviewer

• Has access to the Review workspace
• Can score assigned applications
• Can see their own scores and those of other reviewers

Voter

• Can view and vote on applications assigned to them in the Review workspace
• Can remove their own votes if the score set allows it

Guest

• Has access to the Guest workspace
• Can be enabled on any account
• Can view galleries when given the Scores (own) View permission
• Should not be assigned to registered users

Bookkeeper

• Has view access to grants, funding, and orders in the Manage workspace
• Can configure payments

Auditor

• Has view access to most areas in the Manage workspace

Create custom roles

If the default roles do not meet your programme’s needs, you can create your own custom roles.

1. Open the Manage workspace and go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click New role
3. Enter a name such as “Intern” or “Voter”
4. Select the permissions you want the role to have
5. For granular control, click Advanced and choose Allow or Deny
6. Click Save

What do 'Deny' and 'Allow' permissions mean?

• Deny: overrides all other permissions for that resource, even if another assigned role allows it
• Allow: grants access to that resource

Commonly given role permissions

Scores (own)

• Anyone with this permission can see their own score
• Default: reviewer
• Can also be given to grant managers, voters, guests, and applicants when they need to score or vote

Scores (others)

• Allows users to see scores submitted by other users
• Default: grant manager
• Can be given to lead reviewers
• Must be enabled when score sharing is turned on in a score set

Applications (own)

• Allows users to see and manage their own application
• Default: applicant
• Can be added to any role that needs to submit or manage applications

Applications (others)

• Allows users to view applications submitted by others
• Default: grant manager and chapter manager
• Can be added to custom roles such as PR teams or agencies

Additional configuration options

• Default role for home page registration: sets the role granted to all new users who register through the home page
• Guest account role: allows anonymous users limited access, such as viewing public galleries
• Require multi-factor authentication: requires users with the selected role to verify their identity at login (see: Multi-factor authentication)

Configure role registration

Role registration allows users to complete a dedicated form to receive a specific role.

Step 1: create the role

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click New role
3. Enter a name
4. Select Registration form for this role is active
5. Set the permissions
6. Click Save

Step 2: configure registration fields (optional)

Create user fields under Settings > Users > Fields for information you wish to collect. To learn more, see: Add a user field.

Step 3: Add content for the role registration form

1. Go to Settings > Content > Content blocks
2. Click New content block
3. Select Role registration form
4. Add your content
5. Click Save

Step 4: add content for completion

1. Go to Settings > Content > Content blocks
2. Create a block for Role registration completed
3. Click Save

Step 5: finalise the form

1. Open the role again under Settings > Users > Roles
2. Assign the content blocks you created
3. Copy the Form URL to share with users
4. (Optional) Configure a role-specific notification using the Role granted trigger

Good to know

• Changing permissions incorrectly may affect the integrity of your program.
• The deny permission overrides everything—use it sparingly.
• The 'User registered' notification goes to all roles; use 'Role granted' for role-specific emails.
• SMS notifications cannot be sent to numbers registered in Singapore or to UAE residents between 9pm and 7am.