# Roles

Roles have only a couple, but important, purposes:

* **Define membership** of your congregation (see "indicates membership" below).
* **Grant permissions** to specific parts of Lightpost.
* **Organize access** to parts of Lightpost, allowing delegation of responsibilities to specific parts of Lightpost.

### ☑️ "Indicates Membership"

There is an **"Indicates Membership"** option that can be enabled on any role.

By enabling this option on a role:  **anyone** who is assigned this role will be able to **login as a member** to **your** Lightpost account.

Any user who is given a role with this option enabled now has access to all the standard member features that are activated for your account. This includes the Directory, Prayer List, Group Posts, Sermons, Involvement, and more.

The "Indicates Membership" option **does not grant any admin permissions**. It only provides access to the member-facing features of Lightpost.

A user must belong to **at least one role** that has "Indicates Membership" enabled in order to log in.

### Visitors & Non-Members

Lightpost does not offer any options to provide a limited level of access to visitors or non-members.

In terms of access, there are only **members and non-members**. A user either has a role with "Indicates Membership" enabled (and can log in), or they do not (and cannot log in).

**Roles are only needed for members and should only be used for members.**

You should use Groups for defining and organizing things like former members, visitors, non-members, etc.

### Permissions

For each role, there are a number of permissions that can be enabled or disabled.

{% hint style="danger" %}
**Important:** Most permissions are specific to **Admin Access**.
{% endhint %}

There is **not** the ability to limit what a normal member of your congregation sees or has access to.  By selecting the "indicates membership" option for a role, this automatically grants them access to all standard member features, such as viewing the Directory, Prayer List, Group Posts, etc.

Permissions are organized into some of the following groups:

<table><thead><tr><th width="195">Permission Group</th><th>What It Controls</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Account</strong></td><td>Manage account-level settings</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Users</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete people; manage their roles and groups; view extended profile info; manage family photos</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Roles</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete roles; assign and unassign roles to users</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Groups</strong></td><td>View and manage groups; assign and unassign users to groups</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Finance</strong></td><td>Access giving/contribution data, manage financial records, view reports, view contribution amounts</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Announcements</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete announcements</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Calendars</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete calendar events</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Sermons</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete sermons</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Attendance</strong></td><td>View and manage attendance records; record general, per-user, and class attendance</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Prayers</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete prayer requests</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Involvement</strong></td><td>Manage involvement/ministry areas and selections</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Bible Classes</strong></td><td>Manage Bible classes; register for classes (member app)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Worship Assignments</strong></td><td>View and manage worship assignment schedules</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Family Circles</strong></td><td>View and manage family circle groups</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Interactions</strong></td><td>Create, view, and manage interaction/contact notes</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Podcasts</strong></td><td>View, create, edit, and delete podcasts</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Reports</strong></td><td>Access reporting features</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Files</strong></td><td>View, upload, and manage shared files</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Child Check-in</strong></td><td>Manage child check-in settings and enable kiosk mode</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Crisis Check-in</strong></td><td>Manage crisis/emergency check-in</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Visitor Tracking</strong></td><td>View and manage visitor records and settings</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Programs</strong></td><td>View and manage church programs</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Website</strong></td><td>Manage your Lightpost website, edit pages, and view site statistics</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Sign-up Sheets</strong></td><td>View and manage sign-up sheets</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Song Tracking</strong></td><td>View and manage song tracking (admin and member app)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Within each group, permissions are typically broken down into finer actions such as **view**, **manage** (create/edit), and **delete**, giving you granular control over what each role can do.

Some permissions are flagged as **"Member App"** permissions -- these control specific features within the member-facing app (e.g., the ability for members to register for Bible classes or manage their own involvement selections).

### Default Roles

When a new Lightpost account is created, the following default roles are available as a starting point. You can customize these or create your own:

<table><thead><tr><th width="197">Role</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Account Admin</strong></td><td>Full access to all features and settings</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Elder</strong></td><td>Available for you to define permissions</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Deacon</strong></td><td>Available for you to define permissions</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Member</strong></td><td>Standard membership access with no admin permissions</td></tr></tbody></table>

These roles can be fully customized -- you can rename them, change their permissions, or delete them (with the exception of system-protected roles). You can also create entirely new roles to fit your congregation's structure.


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