Pattern PXM has five customer-facing user roles. Each role builds on the capabilities of the role below it:
General User
General Plus User
Contributor
Admin
Super Admin
Your role sets your maximum level of access. What you can see and do may also depend on the content's published status, role visibility, your assigned Org Units, and the features enabled for your PXM instance.
Role overview
General User
Search, browse, preview, download, and share content.
Access published files and folders that are available to their role and Org Units.
Create personal Lightboxes and share links.
General Plus User
Includes all General User permissions, plus:
Access unpublished files and folders available to their role and Org Units.
Contributor
Includes all General Plus permissions, plus:
Upload files through the main uploader and overwrite existing files.
Add metadata, tags, captions, properties, Org Units, and permissions during upload.
Select existing attributes during upload.
Add and update attribute values on products.
Update existing image stacks.
Note: Contributors cannot syndicate products to channels, and cannot create or change attribute definitions (attribute settings). Those actions require Admin or Super Admin access.
Admin
Includes all Contributor permissions, plus:
Create, update, and delete category folders, product folders, files, visibility settings, and attribute settings.
Use all supported import types.
Create and export channel templates.
Publish or syndicate products to enabled channels.
Access administrative settings available to the organization.
Some advanced settings and features are enabled separately for each PXM instance. If an Admin does not see an expected area, a Super Admin or Pattern Support may need to confirm the instance configuration.
Super Admin
Includes all Admin permissions, plus:
Create and manage users in the customer-facing Users portal.
Manage global organization settings and the highest level of customer access.
Create API credentials when the Integrations feature and required privilege are enabled.
Only Super Admins can create new users in the customer-facing Users portal. For step-by-step instructions, see Add a New User.
Permissions by role
A checkmark means the role can perform that action. Each role also includes everything available to the roles to its left.
Capability | General User | General Plus | Contributor | Admin | Super Admin |
Search, browse, preview, download, and share | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Access published files and folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Create personal Lightboxes and share links | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Access unpublished files and folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
Upload and overwrite files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
Add metadata, tags, Org Units, and permissions on upload | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
Add and update attribute values on products | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
Update image stacks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
Create or delete folders and manage content settings | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Create or change attribute definitions (settings) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Run all supported imports | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Create and export channel templates | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Publish or syndicate products to channels | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Manage organization system settings | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Create and manage users | ✔ | ||||
Create API credentials (Integrations enabled) | ✔ |
Syndication permissions
Day-to-day channel syndication, including Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and other enabled channels, requires Admin or Super Admin access. A Contributor cannot publish products to a channel.
Channel availability also depends on your organization's enabled features, connected seller accounts, and configured templates. Templates are located under Left Sidebar → Syndicate → Templates. Learn more in Channel & Marketplace Templates in PXM.
If your team needs another user to syndicate, ask a Super Admin to review the user's role. The number of Admin users available to an organization may be governed by its agreement with Pattern.
Why a user may still not see content or features
A role alone does not grant access to everything. Check all of the following:
Published status: General Users can only see published content. See Published vs. Unpublished Status in PXM.
Org Units: The user and the content must share the correct Org Unit assignments. See Regions (Org Units): How to Create, Manage, and Control Visibility.
Content-level role visibility: A folder, file, attribute, or template can be limited to specific roles.
Instance configuration: Some features, integrations, and advanced settings must be enabled separately.
After a user's role or Org Unit access changes, they should sign out and sign back in for the new permissions to take effect.