In Minga, every user has a specific Role. The role determines permissions, such as whether someone can access features like the People Dashboard, manage settings, create hall passes, or message other users. You will learn the visibility rules that apply to everyone, then review role definitions for district and school subscriptions so you can assign access consistently. This feature is especially useful for district leaders, school administrators, and Owners who manage onboarding and access control.

Permission Level Required: District Manager | Owner | Manager

How to Use Roles and Permissions

You can control what users can access in Minga by ensuring they have the correct Role, then adjusting solution settings where your subscription allows customization.

Users will be assigned a role by default when they have been automatically rostered from your SIS, so there may be instances where you will want to change someone's role.

Step-by-step Guide to Assigning a Role to a User

Open the People Dashboard.
○ You can manage users and roles from the People Dashboard if your role has access to it (Owner or Manager).
Locate the user you want to update.
○ You can use search or filters to find the correct user record.
Update the user’s Role.
○ You can select the appropriate role (such as Owner, Manager, or Teacher & Staff) so Minga applies the correct permission set.
Select Save.
○ You can confirm the new role is applied by re-opening the user record and checking the displayed role.

Default Visibility Rules and Role Definitions

What roles exist at the District Level?

The role of District Manager is used when an individual needs access to every Minga instance for their district.

District Manager Permissions:

View and access all schools in their district have a Minga.
View how many students and staff are registered in each school and edit profiles in the People Manager.
View usage information for each school.
Can set up rosters, SSO, and other global settings

What roles exist at the school level?

School-level roles depend on your subscription, and the school roles described in this article include Owner, Manager, Teacher & Staff, Student Leader & Students, and Parent.

Role	What the role can do	What the role cannot do	Permissions that can be customized.
Owner	A user with the Owner role can manage all Minga settings.	An Owner is able to access all Settings and perform any action in their Minga.	A user with the Owner role can customize module permissions for other roles where modules support it.
Manager	A user with the Manager role can manage everything in Minga except settings.	A user with the Manager role cannot manage Minga settings.	Managers can access all aspects of each solution but cannot access Settings.
Teacher & Staff	A user with the Teacher & Staff role can access features that are enabled for staff roles in module settings.	A user with the Teacher & Staff role cannot access the People Dashboard but can access User Lists in People to view the public lists or lists for which they are the List Manager.	ID Manager, posting content and comments, creating groups and events, PBIS tracking, hall pass creation, and direct messaging can be customized by an Owner in module settings.
Student Leader & Students	A user with the Student Leader & Students role can access student features that are enabled in module settings.	A user with the Student Leader & Students role cannot access the People Dashboard, ID Manager, Hall Pass Manager, or PBIS Manager.	Posting content and comments, creating groups and events, student hall pass creation, and direct messaging can be customized by an Owner in module settings.
Parent	A user with the Parent role can access parent permissions that are enabled in module settings.	A user with the Parent role can only access the Main Feed and any Groups they have been a member of.	Liking posts, commenting on posts, direct messaging, and read-only access can be customized by an Owner in module settings.

Default Teacher Permissions

As of June of 2026, Teachers and Staff have some report viewing and access permissions enabled by default in certain solutions. Check out the table below to see what they have access to:

Module	Default Setting
Digital ID	No default settings or additional access- Teachers and Staff can access the ID Dashboard, but do not have access to upload photos or change any settings.
Hall Pass	Allow teachers to assign hall passes- Enabled by default Allow staff to assign hall passes- Enabled by default Allow teachers to view reports- Enabled by default Allow teachers/staff to view reports for their hall passes- Enabled by default Allow teachers/staff to bypass blackout schedules- Enabled by default
Behaviors	Allow teachers to view reports- Enabled by default Allow teachers to assign behaviors- Enabled by default Allow staff to assign behaviors- Enabled by default
Points	No default settings or additional access- Teachers will not see the Points solution in the main menu until the setting Allow teachers to view reports is enabled by an Owner.
Check In	No default settings or additional access- Teachers and Staff will not see the Check In solution until the settings Enable Check in tools for teachers and Enable Check in tools for staff are enabled by an Owner
FlexTime	No default settings or additional access- Teachers and Staff will not see the FlexTime solution in the main menu until the Enable FlexTime for teachers and Enable FlexTime for staff is enabled by an Owner.
People	No default settings or additional access- Teachers and Staff have access to their User Lists or User List that are public.

Troubleshooting

● Issue: A teacher tells you they cannot open the People Dashboard.
○ Solution: You can resolve a teacher’s inability to access the People Dashboard by confirming they are assigned the Teacher & Staff role, because that role does not include access to the People Dashboard.

Open the People Dashboard as an Owner or Manager.
Search for the user and open their profile.
Confirm the user’s role is Teacher & Staff and explain that this role does not include People Dashboard access.

● Issue: A user says they cannot see content posted to a group.
○ Solution: You can resolve missing group content by adding the user to the group, because users can only see group content if they are part of that group.

Open the Groups area used to manage group membership.
Add the user to the specific group.
Ask the user to refresh and open the group again.

● Issue: A student cannot access a feature like posting or direct messaging.
○ Solution: You can resolve missing student features by checking module settings that control permissions for the Student Leader & Students role.

Open the relevant module settings as an Owner.
Confirm the student permissions (such as posting or direct messaging) are enabled for Student Leader & Students.
Save changes and have the student sign out and sign back in if required.

Pro Tip: You can reduce permission questions by documenting which modules you have enabled for each role and keeping role assignments consistent during onboarding.

FAQs

What is a role in Minga?

A role in Minga is the permission level assigned to a user that determines what they can access and what actions they can take.

Can everyone see posts, videos, events, and polls?

Everyone can see posts, videos, events, polls, and other general content if they have been added as a user to your Minga.

Why can’t I see group posts?

You can’t see group posts if you are not a member of the group, because group content is visible only to users who are part of that group.

Who can change someone’s role?

A user can change someone’s role only if they have access to user management (such as access to the People Dashboard), which is available to roles like Owner and Manager.

Resources

How to view and edit users in the People Dashboard
How to Manually Add Users to Minga
Roles and permissions reference table:
You should add the missing feature-by-feature permission table to confirm exact access for each role across your enabled modules.

How to Understand Roles and Permissions in Minga

In this article: