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User Types and Roles live on the same page but serve different purposes:
  • User type = What kind of member they are (Scout, Volunteer, Student). A label for categorization and filtering.
  • Role = What position they hold (President, Team Leader, Treasurer). About organizational structure and optionally granting permissions.
  • Permission = What they can do in the platform (Admin, HR, Financial). System access. See Permissions.
A member can be a “Volunteer” (type) who serves as “Team Leader” (role) with “HR Local” permission. These are three separate concepts. User types and roles configuration page

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How to access

Settings → Users & Profiles → Roles & User Types User types and roles share the same management page. User types are marked with a User Type badge; entries without the badge are organizational roles.

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User Types

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Do I need user types?

Yes, if your members fall into meaningfully different categories:
  • Different fee structures (Student pays less than Professional)
  • Different registration requirements (Leaders need qualifications, Scouts don’t)
  • Different communication needs (Volunteers get different newsletters than Alumni)
  • Different access or privileges (only Full Members can vote)
No, if all your members are essentially the same. You can always add them later.

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Creating a user type

1

Go to Roles & User Types

Settings → Users & Profiles → Roles & User Types → click Create Role
2

Enable 'Is User Type'

Toggle Is User Type on. This makes it a membership category rather than an organizational role.
3

Set the name and description

Choose a clear, self-explanatory name. “Active Member” is better than “Type A”.
4

Save

The user type is now available for assignment.

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Assigning user types to members

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What user types affect

User types don’t automatically grant permissions. A “Leader” user type doesn’t give someone admin access. For that, use roles with permissions or assign permissions directly.

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User type visibility

Control who can see user type labels in Settings → Users & Profiles → Configuration:

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Roles

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Role scopes

Every role has a scope that determines where it applies:

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Creating a role

1

Go to Roles & User Types

Settings → Users & Profiles → Roles & User Types → click Create Role
2

Set the basics

Name (e.g., “Branch President”), Plural name (e.g., “Branch Presidents”), and optionally a Description.
3

Choose the scope

Enable one or more: Is National, Is Local Center, Is Local Center Parent, or associate with a Unit Type.
4

Attach permissions (optional)

Select system permissions this role should grant. Everyone assigned this role automatically gets these permissions.
5

Save

The role is now available for assignment.

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Role properties

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Assigning roles to members

Manual: Open the member’s profile → Edit → Roles tab → add the role with optional start/end dates. Via Role Groups: Automatically assign roles based on criteria. Learn more → Via import: Bulk-assign roles during CSV member imports.

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Roles with permissions

Instead of assigning permissions to individuals, attach permissions to roles. Everyone with that role automatically gets those permissions. Why this matters: When someone steps down and a new person takes over, you just reassign the role. The old person loses permissions, the new person gains them. No manual permission juggling.
For the full list of permission levels, see Permissions.

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Using start and end dates

When assigning a role, set start and end dates to track terms:
  • The role is active only between those dates
  • Permissions attached to the role are only active during the term
  • After the end date, the role becomes historical (visible in history but no longer active)
This is useful for elected positions with fixed terms (President 2025-2026).

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Common scenarios

Keep it to 3-5 types. Examples:Sports club: Athlete, Coach, Volunteer, Alumni Professional association: Full Member, Associate, Student, Honorary Youth org: Scout, Leader, Parent, Volunteer Community: Member, Volunteer, SupporterYou can always add more later. Starting with too many creates confusion.
Think about positions, not people:
  1. National level: President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, Board Members → National roles
  2. Regional level: Regional Directors → Parent Local Center roles
  3. Local level: Branch President, Local Treasurer → Local Center roles
  4. Team level: Team Leader, Project Manager → Unit roles
Assign people to roles. The organizational chart auto-generates from this structure.
Role-based permissions when the permission should follow the position. Every Branch President should have ADMIN_LOCAL — attach it to the role.Direct permissions for exceptions. Someone who needs temporary financial access — assign FINANCIAL_LOCAL directly on their profile.Role-based is cleaner. Direct is for one-offs.
No — a member has one user type. If someone is both a “Volunteer” and an “Alumni”, decide which is primary, or create a combined type like “Active Alumni”. For multiple labels, consider using Tags instead.
It depends on context:
  • If “Leader” is a membership category (like Scouts who’ve graduated), it’s a user type
  • If “Leader” is a position (like Team Leader of Unit 5), it’s a role
If you need both, create a “Leader” user type AND specific role positions like “Unit Leader” with the right scope and permissions.
Go to their profile → Roles tab → set an end date on the old role → add the new role with a start date. If both roles have permissions, the transition happens automatically.