Manage user group permissions

When multiple users in your organization need the same types of access, groups are a great way to reduce the work needed to manage permissions and restrictions. Users are added to the groups that are created and managed in admin.atlassian.com by an org admin.

The roles assigned to each group give users in those groups the most access they are allowed, but the App admin can further restrict their access by editing the actions on the Group permissions page of the Focus admin settings.

To edit app permissions

1. Select the Settings icon () in the top right corner and select Focus admin settings.

2. Select Group permissions. The groups with app access appear on the page, with the default groups listed first and custom groups created by your org admin appearing after those groups.

3. Select Edit.

4. Checkboxes appear if the action can be edited. Review the details in the Default groups section to understand why some permissions can’t be changed.

5. Use the Select all checkbox if you want to give a certain group permission to take all/most of the actions. Then you can clear the checkboxes if only a few of them aren’t needed for a group. Review the App actions section for the details of each action.
   
   PRO TIP: If the group you're editing is granted the Create action, it’s a good practice to Select all and give that group all other actions to make sure they can manage their focus areas effectively.
   
   

6. Select Save when you are done. The permissions take effect immediately.

Default groups

The Permissions section of the Focus admin settings lets you control the actions groups of users can take. The default groups are assigned specific roles in the app, and the role determines the scope of the action they can take.

The permissions set in the app admin settings can never supersede the level of control allowed by the role. For example, you can’t give the focus-viewer group the ability to create focus areas because the Viewer role doesn’t include permissions given to the User role.

focus-admins

This group is assigned the App admin role, which gives them full access to the following admin settings:

• Set and manage the focus area hierarchy

• Connect Atlassian apps to Focus

• Import data

The default focus-admins group can’t be edited because admins who manage the app settings are performing actions that require them to create focus areas, add connections, unlink connections, change focus area types, and delete focus areas.

If you need a group of admins with a limited set of actions, contact your org admin to create another group with the App admin role. Once that group is created, you can edit its permissions to restrict the actions users in that group can take.

Groups with the App admin role are implicitly given access to the Focus admin settings. Access to Focus admin settings can’t be turned off.

focus-users

This group is assigned the User role, which gives them all available actions, such as create, view, edit, and delete. The default focus-users group can be edited to restrict the actions available.

If you need a group of users with a different set of actions, contact your org admin to create another group with the User role. Once that group is created, you can edit its permissions to restrict the actions users in that group can take.

focus-viewers

This group is assigned the Viewer role, which only allows them to view all the data in the app and take the following actions:

• star and follow focus areas and views

• comment and react to updates

App actions

The actions are grouped into sections based on the data they impact.

Focus areas

• Create - allows users to make a new focus area. This includes setting the Name, the focus area Parent, Target date, and Owner. An App admin must have this action in order to use the Import data function in the admin settings.

• Edit Name - allows users to modify the Name of a focus area.

• Edit Owner - allows users to modify the Owner of a focus area.

• Edit Type - allows users to modify the focus area Type. Changes to the Type can affect the parent or sub-focus area connections. When giving a group of users this action, you should also give them the Link focus areas and Unlink focus areas actions.

• Edit About - gives users access to modify the information on the About tab of a focus area.

• Create Updates - makes it possible for someone to post a text-based description of what changed on the Updates tab of a focus area. Since changes to the focus area Status and Target date show up on the Updates tab, users who need to modify this kind of information also need this action.

• Delete Updates - permanently gets rid of an Update you created. You can’t delete Updates other people created. If the Update includes a change to Status or Target date, the value included in the Update will be undone and returned to its previous value.

• Export - downloads all the information about the focus area to a spreadsheet.

• Archive - moves a focus area from the lists of current, active areas to the Archived tab. This action preserves the information and details that might be helpful later. This action includes the ability to restore the focus area.

• Delete - permanently gets rid of a focus area. This is a highly destructive action, as you no longer have access to the details about the focus area.

Connections

Whether you are establishing relationships between focus areas, adding focus areas to views, or connecting goals and work to focus areas, you do that by connecting them to one another. The actions in the Connections section give you fine-grained control over who can add those connections and who can unlink them.

• Add focus areas - establish the relationships between existing focus areas, such as a parent or a sub-focus area. This action also lets you connect a focus area to a view.

• Unlink focus areas - sever the relationships between existing focus areas, such as a parent or a sub-focus area. This action also lets you disconnect a focus area from a view. Since changing the focus area Type can result in unlinking focus areas, users who need to modify the Type should also be given this action.

• Add goals - connect existing goals to a focus area. If users need to create new goals, they will need to be given that permission in the Goals app.

• Unlink goals - disconnect goals from a focus area. This action doesn’t delete the goal; it just severs the connection.

• Add work - connect existing work items to a focus area. New work items have to be created in their source app, such as Jira, Jira Align, or Atlassian Projects.

• Unlink work - disconnect work items from a focus area. This action doesn’t delete the work item; it just severs the connection.

Views

Custom groups of focus areas are called views. Users with any role can create, edit, star, and copy them. However, access to the following actions is determined by the admin:

• Export - downloads all the information about the focus areas in the view to a spreadsheet.

• Delete - permanently removes the grouping of focus areas, but doesn’t delete the focus areas.

Find out more about views

Funds

Some organizations may consider financial information sensitive, so this section lets the admin decide which groups have access to it.

• View - allows the users in this group to see funds information, like budget and spend in the details of a focus area. If this action is turned off, funds information will be hidden from these users.