# Roles and permissions

> Memberfy's access levels (from visitor to owner), who grants each role, how they combine with each space's visibility and rules, and why a button shows up for one person and not for another.

Everything someone can do in a community comes from the combination of two things:

1. **The person's role in that community**: owner, admin, moderator, finance or member. It applies to the whole community.
2. **The rules of each section and each space**: who sees it (visibility), who creates content inside it, and what it takes to get in (a plan, a product, a group).

The role says **what you can do**. The space's rules say **where you can do it**. This article explains both and how they intersect. Read it before setting up [sections](/conceitos/secoes) and [spaces](/conceitos/espacos), because every choice you make there depends on it.

## The levels, from lowest to highest

| Level | Who it is | How they get there |
|---|---|---|
| **Visitor** | Someone who opens the community's address without being signed in | Just having the link |
| **Member** | Someone with an account and a profile in the community | Invite, open sign-up or a purchase |
| **Finance** | An accountant, a partner or whoever looks after the money | Granted by an owner or admin |
| **Moderator** | Whoever looks after the conversations and the content | Granted by an owner or admin |
| **Admin** | Whoever runs the community day to day | Granted by an owner or admin |
| **Owner** | The community's owner | Granted only by another owner (or by the Memberfy team) |
| **SuperAdmin** | The Memberfy team, for support | Not granted by anyone in the community |

The order of power is **Owner › Admin › Moderator › Member**. **Finance** sits **beside** this ladder, not above member: it reads the finances and, outside them, is an ordinary member.

### Visitor

Has no account, or isn't signed in. Sees only what is marked **Public**: public sections and spaces, the community's pricing page (`/pricing`) and the link to a last-chance offer received by email (`/oferta/…`). To comment, react, buy or see anything else, they need to sign in.

### Member

The default role for anyone who joins. Takes part in the spaces they have access to: reads, comments, reacts, RSVPs to events, enrolls in courses and creates content **in the spaces that let any member create**. Also sees their own **Billing** (subscriptions, cards, charges) and their own profile. Doesn't see the **Administration** area.

### Finance

Designed for the accountant or the company's finance person. Opens **Monetization** and sees everything to do with money: the **Dashboard** (total revenue, available, retained, pending), the statement, payouts, products, plans, coupons and their usage, fees, and the **Payments** tab (company and bank details). **Changes nothing** there: doesn't create products, doesn't edit plans, doesn't request payouts, doesn't change bank details or documents. The exception is subscriptions: in **Members › Subscriptions** (in the menu, the **Members** item opens straight on that tab, the only one they see), finance acts on each subscription, like the owner and the admin. See [Subscription management](/pagamentos/gestao-de-assinaturas). Otherwise, they're a member like any other: they don't moderate or manage members or spaces.

### Moderator

Looks after how people get along. Sees **all** spaces, including private ones, and:

- edits and deletes other people's posts, comments and images in content, gallery and comment spaces;
- pins and unpins items at the top of the Feed;
- creates and edits events and starts the broadcast;
- organizes members' tags;
- reviews and decides the moderation queue (through the API for now; the screen is on its way);
- opens **Administration › Members**.

Doesn't invite people, change roles, create sections or spaces, or access **Settings** or **Monetization**.

### Admin

Runs the community: invites and removes members, changes roles (including promoting someone to admin), creates and organizes sections and spaces, configures the community, creates products, plans and coupons, looks after the Business Information and the bank account, and requests payouts. The one thing an admin **can't** do is act against an owner: they can't remove, demote or edit an owner's profile, and they can't make anyone an owner.

### Owner

Can do everything an admin can, and more: delete the community, make someone an owner and change another owner's profile. A community can have more than one owner. An owner can't simply leave the community: *"Owner cannot leave the community"*.

### SuperAdmin

The Memberfy team, for support. Bypasses all the rules above. When a SuperAdmin acts in a community, they appear in it with an owner profile. Changing someone's **login email** or **phone number** is reserved for SuperAdmins, because that change affects the person in all their communities.

## Who grants and removes each role

| Action | Owner | Admin | Moderator, Finance, Member |
|---|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| Invite or create a member, finance or moderator | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| Invite or create an admin | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| Promote someone to admin or moderator | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| Grant the **finance** role | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| Make someone an **owner** | ✔ | — | — |
| Edit, demote or remove an **owner** | ✔ | — | — |
| Edit, demote or remove an admin | ✔ | ✔ | — |
| Demote yourself | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |

Two important rules:

- **Nobody joins as owner through an invite.** The roles you can grant in an invite and in **New Member** are admin, moderator, member and finance. To have another owner, invite the person and then, as an owner, promote them.
- **The owner's protection applies everywhere**: on the members screen, in the API and when acting on behalf of another profile.

The step-by-step for changing a role is in [Manage members](/membros/gerenciar-membros).

## The rules of each space

Each space (and each section) has three controls that add to the role:

### 1. Visibility: who sees it

| Visibility | Who sees it |
|---|---|
| **Public** | Anyone, including visitors |
| **Members** | Any member of the community |
| **Subscribers** | Anyone with **any** active subscription |
| **Private** | Only those on the **Who gets in** list: people in a **group**, buyers of a **product** or subscribers of a specific **plan** |

Owners, admins and moderators **always** see it, whatever the visibility. Finance doesn't: the same rule as a member applies to them.

A section's visibility is the floor for its spaces: a space is never more open than its section. The details are in [Visibility and access](/conceitos/visibilidade-e-acesso).

### 2. Who can create: who publishes inside the space

Each space has a **Who can post** rule:

| Option | Who creates posts, statuses, events, courses and images in the space |
|---|---|
| **Anyone** | Everyone who can create that type of item (the default) |
| **Staff** | Owners, admins and moderators |
| **Admins** | Only owners and admins |

This rule is about **creating**. Commenting and reacting stay open to anyone who sees the space. The **finance** role counts as a member here: in a "Staff" space, they don't create.

Some item types also have their own minimum role, regardless of the space:

| Item | Who can create it |
|---|---|
| Content post, Feed status, gallery image | Any member (subject to **Who can post**) |
| Event | Owner, admin and moderator |
| Course, module and lesson | Owner and admin |
| Call for papers | Owner and admin (and whoever the call defines) |

### 3. Participation and moderation

Anyone who sees a space can take part in it: comment, react, RSVP, enroll. The staff can moderate what others have published.

## The matrix: role × action

In a space the person can see, with **Who can post = Anyone**:

| Action | Visitor | Member | Finance | Moderator | Admin | Owner |
|---|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|
| See a public space | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| See a members, subscribers or private space | — | if they have access | if they have access | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Publish a post or status | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Comment and react | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Edit or delete your own items | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Edit or delete other people's posts and comments | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Pin to the top of the Feed | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create and edit an event | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Delete an event | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create a course | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create, edit and delete a section or space | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Open Members | — | — | **Subscriptions** only | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Act on subscriptions (complimentary, discount, cancel, payment link) | — | — | ✔ | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Invite and change roles | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| See Monetization (balance, statement, sales) | — | — | ✔ | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create and edit products, plans and coupons | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Request and cancel a payout | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Submit Business Information, documents and bank account | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Change the community's Settings | — | — | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Delete the community | — | — | — | — | — | ✔ |

One subtle difference: for a **Feed status** (the short post), only owners and admins edit or delete someone else's status; moderators moderate its comments.

## Example combinations

**Announcements space: only the staff posts, everyone comments.**
A **Members** section or space, Feed or Content module, **Who can post = Staff**. Every member reads and comments; only moderators, admins and owners post.

**Paid course: only Growth plan subscribers see it.**
A Courses space with **Private** visibility and the **Growth** plan under **Who gets in › Plans**. Non-subscribers see the space with a lock and the label *Requires a plan*; subscribers get in. See [Plans](/monetizacao/planos).

**An open space where any member posts.**
**Members** visibility, **Who can post = Anyone**. This is the default for a new space.

**A public showcase with conversation for members only.**
A **Public** Content space: visitors read the articles; to comment, they need to sign in.

**Finance sees the balance but doesn't touch plans.**
Give your accountant the **Finance** role. They open **Monetization**, check sales, the statement and payouts and export the CSV, but the create, edit and request payout buttons and the bank forms are read-only (*"Read-only view: the community owner or an admin maintains this information."*).

**The board room.**
A **Private** space open only to the **Board** group. Anyone outside the group doesn't see the space in the menu (groups don't show a lock).

## Section, space and what shows up in the menu

A section has **its own** visibility and access list, with the same options as a space. It isn't just a heading: if a person can't get through the section, they see nothing inside it, even if a space in there is more open.

In the side menu, for people who **can't** get in:

| Situation | What the person sees |
|---|---|
| Private space unlocked by a **plan** | The space with a lock: *Requires a plan* |
| Private space unlocked by a **product** | The space with a lock: *Requires a purchase* |
| Private space unlocked only by a **group**, or with nobody on the list | Nothing: the space doesn't appear |
| **Subscribers** space, for someone with no subscription | Nothing: the space doesn't appear |
| **Members** space, for a visitor | Nothing |

The lock is there to sell: whoever sees what's locked knows what they get by subscribing or buying.

## Per-item permissions

On top of the role and the space's rules, **each item** (post, comment, event, image) arrives from the server saying what you can do with it: **edit**, **delete**, **moderate**. That's why the same post shows the edit menu to its author and to a moderator, and not to another member. The screen doesn't decide on its own: it shows what the server authorized, and the server checks again when you click.

## Common errors and how to fix them

| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| *You are not a member of this community.* | The account has no profile in this community | Ask for an invite, or join through **Sign Up** if sign-up is open |
| *Only staff members (admin, owner, moderator) can perform this action* | The space is set to **Staff**, or the action is a moderation action | Ask someone on the staff |
| *Only admins (admin, owner) can perform this action* | The space is set to **Admins**, or the action is a management action (product, plan, coupon) | Ask an admin |
| *Only an owner or a SuperAdmin can remove, demote or change an owner.* | An admin tried to act on an owner | Only another owner can do that |
| *Only an owner or a SuperAdmin can make someone an owner.* | An attempt to promote someone to owner by a non-owner | Ask an owner |
| *Only owners and admins can assign the finance role.* | A moderator tried to grant the finance role | Ask an admin |
| *You do not have access to this space.* | The visibility or the access list doesn't include you | Look at the lock: subscribe to the plan or buy the product shown |

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I have more than one owner?**
Yes. Invite the person as an admin and, as an owner, promote them to owner in **Members**.

**Can an admin remove me if I'm the owner?**
No. No admin action reaches an owner.

**Do moderators see the paid spaces?**
Yes. Owners, admins and moderators see all spaces so they can moderate them. Finance doesn't: the member rule applies to them.

**Can finance request a payout?**
No. They see the balance and payouts; requesting and canceling payouts belongs to owners and admins.

**Why doesn't a member see the create event button?**
Creating events is for moderators and above, in any space. To let members suggest meetups, use a Content space or the Feed.

**Does changing someone's role change what they see right away?**
Yes. On the next screen the person opens, the menu and buttons already follow the new role.

**Does the role apply in all of the person's communities?**
No. The role belongs to the profile in that community. The same person can be owner of one and member of another. See [Account and profile](/conceitos/conta-e-perfil).

## In the API

The role is `profile.role`: `owner`, `admin`, `moderator`, `finance` or `member`. The community is the one in the `X-CommunityId` header, and that's where the role is checked. Who can create in a space is `space.canCreate`: `anyone`, `staff` or `admins`. See [X-CommunityId](/api/x-community-id) and [Sections & Spaces](/api/referencia/sections-spaces).

## Related

- [Sections](/conceitos/secoes)
- [Spaces](/conceitos/espacos)
- [Visibility and access](/conceitos/visibilidade-e-acesso)
- [Manage members](/membros/gerenciar-membros)
- [Invite members](/membros/convidar-membros)