User Roles & Permissions
GoalPath has five user roles. Each role is designed for a specific type of involvement in a project.
Role Overview
| Role | Primary Use Case | Key Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Project administrators | Full access including settings and billing |
| Project Leader | Lead developers & team leads | All Collaborator permissions plus voting |
| Collaborator | Development team members | Work on items, create milestones, view reports |
| Stakeholder | Business stakeholders & PMs | View roadmap, vote on priorities, track progress |
| Viewer | Read-only observers | View roadmap and milestones only |
Owner
Owners have full control over the project. This includes all the permissions of every other role, plus administrative functions no one else can access.
What Owners can do:
- Full access to all features and pages
- Modify project settings and configuration
- Invite, remove, and change member roles
- Manage billing and subscription
- Create and manage teams
- Participate in milestone prioritization voting
- Create and work on items
What Owners cannot do:
- Nothing is off-limits
Accessible pages: Dashboard, Search, Standup, Board, Roadmap, Milestones, Time Report, Voting, Members, Settings
Project Leader
Project Leaders have all Collaborator permissions plus the ability to vote on milestone priorities. Use this role for lead developers or team leads who need both execution and prioritization authority.
What Project Leaders can do:
- Create and manage items
- Move items through the full workflow: NotStarted, Started, Finished, Delivered, Accepted
- Add story point estimates
- Create milestones
- View time reports and velocity metrics
- Participate in daily standups
- Access the kanban board
- View team members
- Vote on milestone prioritization
What Project Leaders cannot do:
- Modify project settings
- Manage billing
- Invite or remove members
Accessible pages: Dashboard, Search, Standup, Board, Roadmap, Milestones, Time Report, Voting, Members
Collaborator
Collaborators are the core execution team. They do the work: create items, update status, add estimates, and drive milestones forward.
What Collaborators can do:
- Create and manage items
- Move items through the full workflow: NotStarted, Started, Finished, Delivered, Accepted
- Add story point estimates
- Create milestones
- View time reports and velocity metrics
- Participate in daily standups
- Access the kanban board
- View team members
What Collaborators cannot do:
- Vote on milestone prioritization
- Modify project settings
- Manage billing or members
Accessible pages: Dashboard, Search, Standup, Board, Roadmap, Milestones, Time Report, Members
Stakeholder
Stakeholders have a business-level view of the project. They can see the roadmap and milestones, vote on priorities, but don't get into the day-to-day execution details.
What Stakeholders can do:
- Vote on milestone prioritization
- View the roadmap and project timeline
- View milestones and track progress
- Search content
- View team members
What Stakeholders cannot do:
- Create or edit items
- Access the kanban board
- View time reports or velocity metrics
- Participate in standups
- Modify any project settings
Accessible pages: Dashboard, Search, Roadmap, Milestones (read-only), Voting, Members
Good fits for the Stakeholder role: product managers influencing priorities, executives monitoring progress, customer representatives voting on feature priorities.
Viewer
Viewers can see the roadmap and milestones. That's it. No editing, no voting, no access to execution details.
What Viewers can do:
- View the roadmap (read-only)
- View milestones and progress (read-only)
- Search content
- View team members
What Viewers cannot do:
- Create or edit anything
- Vote on priorities
- Access standup, board, or time reports
- Modify any project settings
Accessible pages: Dashboard, Search, Roadmap (read-only), Milestones (read-only), Members
Permission Matrix
| Feature | Owner | Project Leader | Collaborator | Stakeholder | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roadmap | Full | Full | Full | Read | Read |
| Milestones | Edit | Edit | Edit | Read | Read |
| Members | Manage | View | View | View | View |
| Voting | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Standup | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Board | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Time Report | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Settings | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Changing User Roles
Only Owners can change member roles. Go to the Members page and click the role dropdown next to any member's name. Changes take effect immediately.
Role Assignment Tips
- Start with the minimum role needed, then upgrade if necessary.
- Keep Owner access to 1-2 people per project.
- Collaborator is the right default for anyone actively doing work.
- Use Stakeholder for business stakeholders who need to influence priorities.
- Use Viewer for external observers or temporary access.
Common Upgrade Paths
- Viewer to Stakeholder: Observer starts participating in prioritization decisions.
- Stakeholder to Collaborator: Stakeholder starts executing work.
- Collaborator to Project Leader: Developer takes on a lead role.
- Collaborator to Owner: Trusted team member needs administrative access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a user have different roles in different projects? Yes. Roles are project-specific. You can be an Owner in one project and a Collaborator in another.
What happens when a member's role is changed? The change takes effect immediately. The user will see updated navigation and permissions on their next page load.
Can Owners remove themselves? Yes, but every project must have at least one Owner. The last Owner cannot remove themselves without first assigning another Owner.
Do Stakeholders see all project data? Stakeholders see the roadmap, milestones, and voting data. They cannot access standup updates, the board, or time reports.
Can Viewers see sensitive information? Viewers can see all roadmap and milestone data. If you need to restrict information further, use separate projects rather than relying on role restrictions.