Creating & Configuring Custom Roles in Ontraccr

🛠️ Creating & Configuring Custom Roles in Ontraccr
 

Ontraccr allows you to go beyond the four default roles by creating custom roles tailored to your organization’s structure. Whether you need a hybrid supervisor, finance-only user, or read-only auditor, custom roles give you full control over what each user can see and do. This article walks you through how to create, configure, and apply custom roles — and how they interact with existing permissions.

🎯 Why Use Custom Roles?

Default roles (Admin, Manager, Supervisor, Worker) work for many setups, but if you have:

• Specialized responsibilities (e.g., scheduling-only users, HR-only viewers)
• Role-based access by department or region
• Field leaders with non-standard permissions

…a custom role lets you design exactly the right access level.

➕ How to Create a New Role

1. Navigate to Settings > Roles and Permissions.
2. Click the “Add Role” button.
3. Enter a name for the new role (e.g., "Safety Coordinator").
4. Click Create.

🛑 Important:

New custom roles are created with zero permissions. You must manually configure them.

🧩 How to Configure Role Permissions

Once a custom role is created:

1. Click into the role name from the Roles list.
2. Enable permissions by checking off boxes under each category:
   • Projects, Clients, Vendors
   • Teams, Boards, Forms
   • Time Tracking, Time Cards
   • Wages, Invoices, Reports
   • User Management
   • Messaging
   • Scheduling and Certifications

Each checkbox represents one capability, such as:

• “Manage Time Cards”
• “View Users”
• “Manage Files”
• “Restrict Project Selection”

🔄 How Role Permissions Affect Experience

Once assigned to a user (via the Position field in their profile), the custom role:

• Defines everything they can see/do in the app
• Controls access to user pages, wages, time cards, boards, and more
• Limits what triggers, buttons, or sections appear in their interface

🔁 Updating Existing Roles to Recognize New Roles

Whenever you create a new custom role, you must update your existing roles (e.g., Admin or Manager) to manage it.

Here's what to do:

1. Go to Settings > Roles and Permissions.
2. Edit existing roles (like Admin or Manager).
3. Enable permissions to:
   • View Users (of the new role)
   • Manage Users (assign or create users with the new role)
   • View User Wage / Manage User Wage (if relevant)
   • View/Edit Time Cards or Manual Entries for users with the new role

⚠️ If you skip this step, users in admin roles won’t be able to see or manage users with the new role you just created.

🧠 Use Case Example

Let’s say you create a “Foreperson” role:

• Give them access to manage time cards and schedules.
• Disable access to reports, wages, and settings.
• Update the Manager role to allow managing “Foreperson” users.

Now, managers can create and oversee users in this new Foreperson role without giving away admin-level access.

📌 Summary

Custom roles in Ontraccr let you tailor permissions with precision. Once created and configured, they allow you to expand your team’s capabilities while maintaining strict control over access and visibility. Don’t forget to update your existing roles to recognize and interact with the new ones.