In a discussion, users or Teams can have different roles that determine what rights they have to perform certain actions. This article will outline what each role allows users to do, as well as how to adjust users' roles in a discussion.
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Explaining Roles
There are five roles a user or Team can have in a discussion: Owner, Admin, Editor, Writer, or Viewer.
As permissions increase, roles have all the rights of the roles previous to them as well as gaining new rights (for example Admins have all the rights of Editors; Editors have all the rights of Writers, and so on).
Owner
The Owner is the creator of a discussion, with the same rights as an Admin, however, Admins are not able to change the Owner’s role. There can only be one Owner in a discussion at any time. An Owner can choose another user to take over the ownership of a discussion if desired (see Transferring Ownership of a Discussion).
Admin
Admins have rights relating to the management of the discussion. Admins can modify the discussion settings, change the roles of other users, and invite new members. They are able to accept suggested claims/comments, or send them back to the suggester for review. Admins can also change the discussion between single- and multi-thesis forms, change tags and the discussion cover image, and edit the background information.
Editor
Editors are able to create, edit, move, and delete all claims in a discussion, as well as mark claims for review.
Writer
Writers have the right to create, move, edit or delete their own claims, as well as link claims in other locations in the discussion. Writers can comment on any claims in the discussion, and message the discussion chat.
Viewer
This is the default role for all logged-in users, and applies to public discussions even if a user does not have an invite to the discussion. Viewers have limited rights in a discussion but are able to vote on all claims. If a Viewer wants to add a claim, they will need to “suggest” it (see Suggesting Claims) - the claim will initially only be visible to Admins in a discussion. A Viewer can also suggest a comment (see Suggesting Comments). In a private discussion, a user will first need to be invited before gaining the Viewer role.
If a user in a discussion is also part of a Team that has been invited to a discussion, the higher role will be applied. For example, if a user in a discussion has Editor rights and their Team has Writer rights, they will have Editor rights. For more information about Teams on Kialo, see About Teams.
How to Adjust Roles
If you are an Admin or Owner in a discussion, you can manage user roles. To do this, open the Discussion Menu and select ‘Discussion Settings’. Afterward, click on the ‘Invites & Permissions’ tab and navigate to the user list at the bottom of the ‘Invites & Permissions’ section.
To the right of each user, their current role will be displayed. To change a user’s role, open the drop-down menu by clicking their current role, and select their new role. Any changes made will be saved automatically.
Any users invited to a discussion can also change their own role in the discussion to a lower one (for example from Editor to Writer), or revoke their role entirely. To do this, follow the same steps as above to open the ‘Invites & Permissions’ tab, and change your own role to the desired one. Note that you can’t revert these changes yourself, so be careful!
For further help on being an effective Admin in or Owner of a discussion, see Moderating Discussions.