Returning.AI gives you full control over role-based access and permissions in both public and private channels. For instance, when setting up a private channel, you can decide which roles are allowed in and define what those roles can do within the channel.
Channel & Category Privacy
Adjusting privacy settings for both channels and categories allows you to control who can access specific areas of your community. When you create a private category, the access permissions set for the category will apply to its channels but won’t override the individual permissions of each channel. Each channel within a private category can have its own access rules. Let's go through an example of what this means, and how it can work.
Imagine a community aimed at educators, with a private category named "Administration" that allows access to the @student role. This category contains three private channels: Sign-ups, Registration Forms, and Q&A. While the @student role has been given permission to access Sign-ups and Q&A, they do not have access to Registration Forms.
With this set-up, a member with a @student role will be able to view the following.
In this example, the Registration Forms channel is hidden because the access permissions for the Administration category, which allow access to @student, do not override the channel’s specific privacy settings. The Registration Forms channel is configured to block access for @student.
Understanding channel and category privacy settings will better equip you to manage how members access your various chatrooms.
Configuring Access Permissions
Each channel has two types of access permissions you can configure: Role Permissions and Channel Permissions.
Role Permissions: These determine who can access private channels and assign specific roles for different channel types. For example, you can decide which roles or users can enter private channels or assign roles like "announcer" in announcement channels or "messenger" in direct message channels.
Channel Permissions: These control what actions each role can perform within a specific chatroom.
Role Permissions
Once your channel is created, you can configure role permissions. This lets you assign roles like "announcers" or "messengers" for different channel types or decide which roles can view and access a private channel. To set this up, click the "+" button and select the roles or users you want to grant access or assign a role to. When finished, click "Save."
For private channels, users with assigned roles will be able to see the channel in the channel bar, access it, and read messages posted there.
Channel Permissions
After assigning roles, the next step is to define what actions each role or user can perform in the chatrooms. Click the pencil icon next to a role or user, then toggle permissions on or off based on what you want them to be able to do. Once you've made your changes, click "Save Changes."
