Create a custom role

This guide shows you how to build a custom admin role with a tailored set of permissions — useful when the built-in system roles don’t match what a specific admin should be able to do.

Who can do this: Admins who have permission to create and manage custom roles.

Before you start

• System roles (such as “Read-only” or “Org Owner”) are read-only templates. You start a custom role by cloning one of them.
• Role names must be unique across your organization.
• You can refine permissions after you save — nothing is permanent until you assign the role to an admin.

Steps

Step 1 — Clone a system role

1. Go to Admin & Security → Roles.
2. Find the system role that’s closest to what you need.
3. Click Clone next to that role. The custom role editor opens with the cloned permissions pre-filled.

Step 2 — Name the role

4. In the Role name field, replace the default name with something that describes the role’s purpose.
   • Example: “Events coordinator” or “Finance read-only”

Step 3 — Set permission flags

5. Review the permission categories in the Permissions tab:
   • Members, Memberships, Events, Billing, Email, Directory, Admin, Integrations, Reports
6. Toggle individual actions on or off within each category. Use the Search permissions bar to find a specific action quickly.
7. If you turn on an action that depends on another (for example, canceling an event requires viewing events), a warning appears. Click Auto-enable dependency to add the required action automatically.

Step 4 — Optionally limit data scope

8. Click the Scope tab.
9. If you want this role to see only a subset of data, add filters:
   • Membership level — limits which membership levels the admin can see
   • Tag — limits which tagged records the admin can access
   • Event category — limits which event categories the admin can manage
10. Leave the scope empty if the role should have access to all data its permissions allow.

Step 5 — Optionally bind the role to a member tag

11. Click the Group binding tab.
12. Select a Tag from the dropdown. Members with that tag will automatically hold this role when they are promoted to admin.
13. Skip this tab if you prefer to assign the role manually.

Step 6 — Save

14. Click Save. You see a “Role saved” confirmation message.

Verify

You’ll know it worked when the new role appears in the Your custom roles section on the Roles list.

If something goes wrong

• “Role name already in use” — Choose a different name. Check the Roles list to see what names are taken.
• Dependency warning appears — You’ve turned on an action that requires another action to be on too. Click Auto-enable dependency or manually enable the required action before saving.
• Can’t edit a system role — System roles are read-only. Clone the system role to create an editable custom version.

Related

• Assign a role to an admin
• View effective permissions for an admin