CMS: Creating Custom Roles and Permissions

In this article

Creating custom roles that allow CMS access
FAQs

Set up precise access controls for your teammates and collaborators in your CMS (Content Management System) by creating custom roles. Define what actions collaborators can take in the CMS, such as managing content and collections. These roles can also include permissions from other areas, such as the Editor, Sites, or Stores, to match collaborators' site-wide responsibilities.

You can create as many custom roles as you need, assigning different collaborators varying access levels to your CMS collections. Once roles are assigned, use each collection's advanced permission settings to set permissions for specific roles and fine-tune their access.

Creating custom roles that allow CMS access

Choose which CMS permissions to assign to the role. Each permission gives collaborators access to a specific set of actions in your CMS, from working on draft items to managing entire collections. You can set an individual collection's advanced permissions to specify access levels or roles that have CMS access.

To create a custom CMS role:

Go to Roles & Permissions in your site's dashboard.
Click Manage Roles at the top.
Click + Create New Role.
Enter the Role Title and Description in the relevant fields.
Click CMS in the Permissions section.
Select the checkboxes next to the permissions you want to assign to the role:
- Manage Content: Can view, add, and edit content in existing collections.
- Edit Drafts: Can add, edit, and delete only draft items in existing collections. This permission only applies when the collection is set to Save changes as draft first. Learn more about saving collection changes as drafts before publishing.
- Manage Backups: Can add, restore and delete backups for all collections.
  Note: Make sure to also select Manage Content to grant access to the CMS so collaborators with the role can access the CMS and use backups.
- Manage Indexes: Can add and delete indexes for all collections.
  Note: Make sure to also select Manage Content to grant access to the CMS so collaborators with the role can access the CMS and use indexes.
- Manage Collections: Can create new collections, delete collections, and add, delete, or edit fields in all collections. Selecting this permission also selects the Manage Content permission.

Screenshot of selecting CMS permissions for a custom role.

Make sure to set the collection permissions:

If you want collaborators with the Manage Content or Manage Collections permissions to be able to add and update items in CMS collections, make sure to set Advanced collection permissions, then select the Add and Update checkboxes next to Collaborators or next to a specific collaborator role. Learn more about advanced collection permissions.

(Optional) Add permissions from other areas such as Editor, Sites, or Stores:
1. Click the relevant dropdown (e.g. Editor, Sites, Stores).
2. Select the permissions you want to assign to the role.

Important:

Admin roles grant collaborators full access to the CMS and access to other areas of managing your site. You cannot restrict admins from having full access to the CMS. The following permissions automatically make the role an 'admin' role:

Editor: Edit Site
Studio Editor: Edit Code
Studio Editor: Edit Site Structure
Velo: Access developer tools