New: Private Boards, Guest Users & 2-Tier Access Control

Dear folks,

Yesterday, our engineering team shipped a major update for introducing guest users, private boards, and two-tier access control. In this blog post, I'll discuss why we think this is important and how it all works.

Motivation: The Need For Access Control

In your business, you work with a number of folks such as employees, managers, vendors, clients, temp-staff, interns, etc. In most cases, not all projects/initiatives need to be accessible to everyone.

General business initiatives such as those regarding employee benefits, policy changes, or brainstorming sessions should typically be accessible to all employees. But you'd usually want to avoid including clients/vendors in such discussions.

On the other hand, specific projects may require input/feedback from clients, but not require the involvement of every employee. And, of course, in all cases, company owners and team administrators should always be able to access all of their team's projects and initiatives.

Based on interactions with users, and from our own experience at Polydojo.com, it was clear that BoardBell required a system for managing users' access to boards. Such a system would need to account for different types of users such as managers, employees, clients, vendors, etc.

Two-Tier Access Control System

In line with the above motivation, we decided to implement a two-tier access control system. In BoardBell, per-user access can be managed on a board-specific basis, and more generally, on a team-wide basis.

Additionally, BoardBell has two types of boards: team-wide boards and private boards. The two-tier access control system, in conjunction with two types of boards, allows you to set up fine-grained access control patterns for ensuring that the right users have access to the right boards.

Team-Wide Access Control

On a team-wide basis, a user may have one of three access levels: guest, regular, and admin.

1. Guest:
   • This access level is meant for outside vendors, clients, temp-staff, etc.
   • Team members with 'guest' access are called 'team guests'.
   • Team guests can neither create boards nor add/manage team members.
2. Regular:
   • This access level is meant for regular employees.
   • Team members with 'regular' access are called 'team regulars'.
   • Team regulars can create boards, but can't add/manage team members.
3. Admin:
   • This level is meant for business owners and administrators.
   • Team members with 'admin' access are called 'team admins'.
   • Team admins can create boards and invite/manage team members.

Please note that a team can have multiple team admins. Similarly, a team can have multiple team regulars and team guests.

Adding & Managing Team Members:

Team admins can go to the Users page to invite users and manage their team-wide access level. To invite a user, click the blue 'Invite' button, then fill and submit the invitation form. The invitee shall receive an email with a link to accept the invitation.

To manage the team-wide access level of a user, click on the menu button right next to their name, and click 'Change Access Level'. You can also use the same menu-button to deactivate (or reactivate) the access of any particular user.

Board Creation & Visibility:

Team admins and team regulars can create boards via the Boards page. To create a new board, click the blue 'New Board' button. After entering a title and optional description, you can set the visibility of the board to 'Team Wide' or 'Private'.

Before discussing the difference between team-wide & private boards, we need to discuss board-specific access control.

Board-Specific Access Control

On a board-specific basis, a user may have one of three access levels: reader, regular, and admin.

1. Reader:
   • Board members with 'reader' access are called 'board readers'.
   • Board readers can view all columns, cards, and uploads.
   • They cannot edit/move any card or column; they can't add/manage board members.
   • They can participate in both board-chat and card-chat.
2. Regular:
   • Board members with 'regular' access are called 'board regulars'.
   • Board regulars can do everything that board readers can.
   • Plus, they can edit/move cards.
   • But they can't edit/move columns and can't add/manage board members.
3. Admin:
   • Board members with 'admin' access are called 'board admins'.
   • Board admins can do everything that board regulars can.
   • Plus, they can edit/move columns and can edit board properties.
   • They can also add/manage board members.

Board Creator Becomes a Board Admin

As mentioned before, a board may be created by a team admin or a team regular. For any given board, the creator of the board becomes a board admin (for that board).

Please note that a board can have multiple board admins. Similarly, a board can have multiple board regulars and multiple board readers.

Team-Wide Vs Private Boards

Team-Wide Boards:

• Team-wide boards are meant for managing team-wide initiatives and communication.
• Thus, these boards are implicitly accessible to all team admins and team regulars, but not to team guests.
• Team admins can implicitly access the board as if they were board admins. Such implicit board access cannot be overridden by another board admin.
• Team regulars can implicitly access the board as if they were board regulars. Such implicit board access can be overridden by a board admin.
• Team guests cannot implicitly access the board, but they can be added to the board by a board admin.

Private Boards.

• Private boards are meant for managing specific/private projects that don't require the involvement of your entire team.
• Thus, these boards are implicitly accessible only to team admins, not to team regulars or team guests.
• Team admins can implicitly access the board as if they were board admins. Such implicit board access cannot be overridden by another board admin.
• Team regulars and team guests cannot implicitly access the board, but they can be added to the board by a board admin.

Adding Members To A Board

Board admins can add members to a board and manage their board-specific access level. To add board members, click on the menu button right next to the board's title and select 'Board Users' and scroll down to the 'Add Board Members' section.

Explicit Vs Implicit Access - An Example:

To make things clear, let's take an example. Consider the following team:

• Team admins: Adam, Amanda
• Team regulars: Roger, Rita, Ronald
• Team guests: Greg, Gina

Let's say Roger (a team regular) creates a team-wide board titled "Website Redesign Board" or just WRB for short.

• As Roger created the board, by default, he is a board admin.
• As Adam and Amanda are team admins, they can implicitly access the board as board admins.
• As Rita and Ronald are team regulars, they can implicitly access the board as board regulars.
• As Greg and Gina are team guests, they can't implicitly access the board.

We see that while Roger is a team regular, he is a board admin for WRB. Now, let's say he needs Rita's help in managing the board's columns.

• As a board admin, Roger sets Rita's board-specific access level to 'admin'.
• Now, while Rita is a team regular, she too is a board admin for WRB.

Further, let's say that WRB doesn't really require much involvement from Ronald.

• Hence Roger (a board admin) sets Ronald's board-specific access level to 'reader'.
• Now, while Ronald is a team regular, he is only a board reader for WRB.

Further, let's say that Roger needs to heavily collaborate with Greg, an outside developer they've contracted for managing their website.

• Hence, Roger (a board admin) adds Greg to the board with board-specific access level 'regular'.
• Now, while Greg is a team guest, he is a board regular for WRB.

Questions?

I realize that the two-tier access control system described above may feel a bit tricky at first. But trust me, in time, you'll get used to it. If you have any questions, please feel free to email support@boardbell.com. We'll be happy to help.

Thanks and regards,
Sumukh