💰Roles and Packages

💡 Introduction

LoftOS Roles and Packages are features that enable platform administrators to regulate the services accessible to organizations and their members. Through this functionality, administrators can precisely determine which organizations or members have reading and writing permissions on the platform by assigning tailored roles to each one.

Generally, remember that a Role is assigned to a Package and the Package is assigned to the Organization.

👩🏻‍💻 Usage

Role and Packages Permission Management

Roles can be directly assigned to individual Users, simplifying permission management to access specific features and data based on their Roles. Link Roles to specific Packages and automatically grant organizations and their members associated with those Packages the corresponding permissions.

All confirmed Users are automatically assigned the ‘Default’ role, ensuring basic platform access. When defining custom Roles, specify only the additional permissions needed beyond the 'Default' role. This approach simplifies role creation and management.

Roles define how modules can be used and determine which modules are visible to a user by allowing or restricting reading rights.

Role permissions explained

Read and Write Permissions: Roles enable you to define whether a User can only read, only write, or do both.

Limited Write Access: You can set restrictions, such as allowing a User to write only a limited number of entries.

Write-Only Access: You can now grant write access without read access, so Users can input data without being able to view existing data.

Assigning Roles and Permissions

Roles can now be assigned not only to organizations but also to individual Users. This feature allows you to grant access to specific individuals without applying it across an entire organization. For example, if an organization has 1,000 employees, but you only want two employees to have the ability to publish events, this is now possible with individual Role assignments.

Create and manage Roles

To create a new role, go to ‘Access Management’ in the navigation bar and select “Roles”. Next, simply click “+Add”, then define the Role’s permissions for each Module. You can decide what Modules, Pages, or Programs the Role can access, offering increased flexibility in how content and data are managed.

Define specific permissions for Modules, allowing you to set whether Users can read, write, or have limited access. For instance, Users in a particular Role might be allowed to write but not read certain content, offering more granular control over what Users can do.

To manage permissions to a Module, select the Module under the ‘Permissions’ tab and start editing under “Actions”.

‼️ Attention: Whenever you add a new page or module to your platform, it will be automatically added to ALL of your roles. Please remember removing them from the roles that should not have access to this new content.

Roles & Packages: Overview and Export

Keep track of Role and package assignments across your platform. This feature gives you key insights into the distribution of Roles and Packages, including the total number of Users per Role and Package – helping you manage user permissions more effectively.

Key Features

Roles Overview: See how many Users are assigned to each Role at a glance.

CSV Export: Download Role data as a CSV file for external analysis and reporting.

Improved Management: Gain better control over User Roles, similar to how you manage package subscriptions.

How to Use It

Go to the Roles or Package section in the Admin Area.

Explore the new overview to see the Role and Package distribution.

Use the Export Button to download the data as a CSV file.

Entry Pages Based on Roles

Assign a dedicated entry page to each role, ensuring a tailored experience. For example, managers can be directed to the Feed, Event attendees to a dedicated Event page. Go to: Admin → General Settings → Entry Pages → Roles-based Entry Pages → Select your role and desired page.

🥇 Best Practices

Handling Multiple Roles

Users can now be assigned multiple Roles, and the platform will aggregate all permissions from these Roles. If one Role denies access while another grants it, the Role that allows access will override the other.

Packages: Now primarily handle access selection. You can specify whether Users can choose a Package or not. Each Package links Users to a Role.

Explanation of Package Details

Customizable Packages

General Use Case: Customizable Packages are employed to assign distinct roles and permissions on a platform to all members of an organization, allowing varied levels of access and capabilities. This ensures that each organization can interact within designated areas relevant to their operations.

Each organization can be assigned only one Package; it is not possible to assign multiple Packages to a single organization.

Create a Package

To customize a Package, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Access Management section of your platform. Choose "Packages" from the menu. To create a new Package, click "+Package".

Upon selecting the "+ Package" option, you will be directed to the input interface, which comprises of these two tabs, Informations and Subscriptions.

First, complete the Information Form.

Name and Description: Two mandatory fields, the name and description, must be filled out. For this Investor-Exclusive Package, we recommend naming it "Investor Package" with a brief description such as "Tailored to our esteemed investor community."

Icon: Click "change item" to modify the icon.

Automatic Labels: Select your label from the drop-down menu. This label will then automatically applied to the organisations who have this package.

Features: This Package offers the flexibility to incorporate exclusive features tailored to its objectives. Examples include "Marketplace" or "View All Startups". Users can view these features in the Package overview if enabled (refer to the "visible for users" section).

Highlighting Package: Use this feature to apply a distinctive label to your Packages for easier identification.

Roles: Add the Roles that apply to this Package.

Visible for Users: Activate this function to ensure users can readily find this Package in the Package overview. Access the Package overview below the profile picture, situated in the upper-right corner of the platform.

From there, you'll see the Packages overview:

Should you opt not to enable this function, the new Package won't be visible to Users in the overview. Consequently, only you, as the platform admin, will have the authority to assign the Package to the relevant organizations.

Confirmation required: If you enable this feature, users can request an upgrade to their Package. However, for paid upgrades, the platform admin must review and confirm the request. This ensures that all necessary formalities, such as contracts, payment methods, and other requirements, are properly addressed and completed before confirming the Package upgrade.

Price per month: The "price per month" field is not applicable to this particular use case. For more details, please consult the "package for content upgrades" section.

Subscriptions: This tab offers an overview of the organizations linked to this Package. To remove an assignment, simply click the “trash” can icon. Upon deletion, the default Package will automatically be reinstated. If you need to change the Package for a particular organization, navigate to the respective organization's link and select a new Package from the drop-down menu in the Administrator tab.

Manual Attribution of Packages: The system checks whether the user has a package. Based on this, the Packages Page prompts the user to manage, upgrade, or purchase a package. If you link directly from Stripe to your pricing template, our system cannot recognize which package the organization previously had or change it. Therefore, you must manually adjust the package when an organization buys a new one.

Package Visibility

You have the option to make Packages either visible or invisible, depending on your specific use cases and circumstances. The following two sections outline a few examples of how each option can be utilized:

Visible Packages

Visible Packages serve to highlight existing upgrade options to Users, drawing their attention to these Packages in the Package overview. If there are platform areas inaccessible to Users due to a lack of Package upgrade, they will receive the following notification:

Many Users express interest in accessing additional features, prompting them to either attempt to modify their Package independently or seek assistance from the platform administrator.

How to set up a visible access restriction?

You have already determined which areas and modules each Package can be viewed and edited. Now you need to adjust the navigation settings of these areas so that users receive a message when they don't have permission to access them. Use the following path for the setting: Admin Area -> Platform Settings -> Navigation Settings: Open the navigation that you want to adjust so that certain Packages do not have access, however a Package upgrade could grant access. This way, the navigation remains visible, but the content is not displayed if the user has not booked the appropriate Package.

How to configure a visible access restriction?

Once you've specified the areas and modules accessible to each Package, you'll need to tailor the navigation settings accordingly to inform users when access is restricted. Navigate to Admin Area > Platform Settings > Navigation Settings. Open the relevant navigation section where certain Packages shouldn't have access but could gain it through an upgrade. This ensures that while the navigation remains visible, content isn't displayed unless users have the appropriate Package booked.

How to set up an invisible access restriction?

You've already specified the areas and modules accessible to each Package. Now, customize the navigation settings to restrict visibility only to exclusive Packages. Navigate to Admin Area > Platform Settings > Navigation Settings. To enable exclusive access for specific Packages, adjust the relevant navigation. This ensures that if you don't have the right Package, the navigation remains hidden, and its content won't be displayed in the menu.

Hidden Packages

When certain Packages are tailored for specific organizations with exclusive areas on the platform, you may opt not to display them to other Users. By adjusting the navigation settings, you can restrict the visibility of these Packages to their respective owners. Consequently, the Package won't appear under "My Packages" or in the menu. For example, you could create a job board exclusive to startups, inaccessible to other platform users such as companies and investors.

Package Approval

In the "Create a Customized Package" section, you can designate Package assignments that require approval from a platform administrator. If visible, users can choose to switch to another Package. When a selected Package requires approval, the process begins when the user clicks the "Buy" button. They receive the following message:

When a user clicks on “Continue”, it leads to the Package Overview:

Request pending is visible.

In the meantime, the platform admin receives an email that there is a new message waiting for him on the platform.

When you click on the notification, you'll be directed to the organization's profile. In the Package section, the platform admin will find the change request and can choose to confirm, reject it, or make an offer. Using the "Make an offer" button, the admin can email the user to discuss payment options. Once terms are agreed upon, the admin can confirm the Package.

You can simply navigate to the Packages section within the Access Management of the admin area. From there, under the Approval tab, you can choose to confirm, reject, or send an offer to the user.

Payment Options

The Booking Workflow gives you the option to select from three payment methods: Stripe, Manual Invoice, External Link.

Stripe: Is a payment processing platform that enables merchants to accept and manage online payments seamlessly. To use this payment gateway, please follow the instructions here: Stripe.

It’s possible to link Stripe payment links in your pricing template. To do this, please contact your CSM so we can create a Stripe payment link for you.

You can link packages for being purchased on your page like this: In your packages overview, click on a package. Remove "admin" and "edit" from the URL—this is the URL visible to users. Link this URL in the pricing template. The user is then redirected to the Packages overview and has to click "buy" again.

Manual Invoice: You need to create an invoice for your user.

External Link: You can connect any external URL, such as a contact form, demo booking, or external payment service. Platform admins can store and process payments through these external links outside the platform.