How to Create and Manage Custom Roles

You can create a new custom role, update an existing custom role's name, description, or permissions, copy it as a starting point for a new role, or remove it from your site — all from Team > Roles in your admin dashboard.

Applies to:

• Plan: Plus
• Role: Site Owner, Site Admin

How to Create a Custom Role

To create a new custom role:

1. From your admin dashboard, select Teams
2. Select Roles
3. Click + Create custom role
4. Enter a role name (required)
5. Add an optional description
6. Select permissions from the permission picker; permissions are selected by the domain (Courses, Communities, Users, etc)
7. Click Create role

The role is now available to assign to any team member.

Important Considerations

• Selection certain permissions will automatically select prerequisite permissions. For example, you selecting an Edit courses will automatically select the View courses permission as it is not possible to edit courses without viewing them.
• When you create a custom role that relies on resource-scoped permissions, such as Courses, Communities, and Groups domains, you can assign the specific products and resources (e.g. groups) to which the permissions apply at the time of assigning the role to a team member (not during role creation).

How to Edit a Custom Role

To edit an existing custom role:

1. From your admin dashboard, select Teams
2. Select Roles
3. Select the Custom roles tab
4. Find the role you want to update
5. Click on the three dots on the right
6. Click Edit
7. Update the role name, description, or permissions as needed
8. Click Save changes

Important Considerations

• Editing a role updates permissions for all team members currently assigned to it — changes take effect immediately.
•  Default roles (Site Admin, Course Admin, Group Analyst, Community Moderator, Seat Manager) cannot be edited. Only custom roles support these actions.

How to Duplicate a Custom Role

Duplicating creates a copy of an existing role with the same permissions. No team members are assigned to the duplicate by default.

1. From your admin dashboard, select Teams
2. Select Roles
3. Select the Custom roles tab
4. Find the role you want to update
5. Click on the three dots
6. Select Duplicate
7. The duplicate is created with the name "[Role Name] (Copy)." Click its name to rename it and adjust permissions as needed
8. Click Create role

Important Considerations

• Default roles (Site Admin, Course Admin, Group Analyst, Community Moderator, Seat Manager) cannot be duplicated. Only custom roles support these actions.

How to Delete a Custom Role

To delete an existing custom role:

1. From your admin dashboard, select Teams
2. Select Roles
3. Select the Custom roles tab
4. Find the role you want to update
5. Click on the three dots on the right
6. Click Delete
7. If team members are currently assigned to this role, you will be prompted to optionally reassign them before the deletion can complete; select a replacement role for each affected team member
8. Click Review
9. Review the changes and select Delete role

Important Considerations

• Default roles (Site Admin, Course Admin, Group Analyst, Community Moderator, Seat Manager) cannot be deleted. Only custom roles support these actions.
• Deleted roles cannot be recovered. If you think you may need the role again, consider duplicating it before deleting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Articles:

• Prerequisites: Custom Roles: Build the Right Access for Every Team Member
• Related: How to Assign a Role to a Team Member