Ultimate guide to user roles

What are roles?

Roles control what a user can see and do in Award Force. Each role has a set of permissions that determine which areas of the platform the user can access and what actions they can take. Your account includes a set of default roles, and you can create custom roles if needed.

All roles and permissions can be viewed and edited in the Manage workspace under Settings > Users > Roles.

Default account roles

Award Force provides a range of default roles suitable for most programs.

Program manager

• Has access to every workspace
• Can add users as judges, chapter managers, or program managers
• Can see all data, including hidden fields and judge comments

Chapter manager

• Can access entries from their own chapter
• Can move entries to another category or chapter
• Can access Settings and Judging unless permissions are removed

Entrant

• Can create, view, update, and submit their own entries
• Can vote if their role is given voting permissions
• Is the default role for registration

Judge

• Can see and score entries assigned to them
• Can only see their own scores unless permissions are changed

Lead judge

• Can score assigned entries
• Can see their own scores and those of other judges

Voter

• Can view and vote on assigned entries
• Can remove their own votes if the score set allows it

Guest

• Can be enabled on any account
• Can view galleries if given the Scores (own) View permission
• Should not be assigned to registered users

Bookkeeper

• Can view existing orders
• Can configure payments

Auditor

• Has view access to most management areas
• Cannot create or edit anything

Create custom roles

If your program has specific requirements, you can create a custom role.

1. Open the Manage workspace and go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click New role
3. Enter a name such as “Intern” or “Voter”
4. Select the permissions you want the role to have
5. For detailed control, click Advanced and choose Allow or Deny as needed
6. Click Save

What do 'Deny' and 'Allow' mean?

• Deny: overrides all other permissions for that resource, even if another assigned role allows it
• Allow: grants access to that resource

Commonly given role permissions

Scores (own)

• Allows a user to view their own scores
• Default: judge
• Can also apply to: program manager, voter, guest, entrant

Scores (others)

• Allows a user to view scores submitted by other users
• Default: programme manager
• Can also apply to: lead judge or any role requiring shared scores

Entries (own)

• Allows a user to view and manage their own entry
• Default: entrant
• Can be applied to any role that needs to submit or manage entries

Entries (others)

• Allows a user to view entries submitted by others
• Default: program manager and chapter manager
• Can be applied to custom roles such as PR teams or agencies

Additional configuration options

• Default role for home page registration: sets the role granted to all new users who register through the home page
• Guest account role: allows anonymous users limited access, such as viewing public galleries
• Require multi-factor authentication: requires users with the selected role to verify their identity at login (see: Multi-factor authentication)

Configure role registration

Role registration allows users to complete a dedicated form to receive a specific role.

Step 1: create the role

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click New role
3. Enter a name
4. Select Registration form for this role is active
5. Set the permissions
6. Click Save

Step 2: configure registration fields (optional)

Create user fields under Settings > Users > Fields for information you wish to collect. To learn more, see: Field configuration.

Step 3: Add content for the role registration form

1. Go to Settings > Content > Content blocks
2. Click New content block
3. Select Role registration form
4. Add your content
5. Click Save

Step 4: add content for completion

1. Go to Settings > Content > Content blocks
2. Create a block for Role registration completed
3. Click Save

Step 5: finalise the form

1. Open the role again under Settings > Users > Roles
2. Assign the content blocks you created
3. Copy the Form URL to share with users
4. (Optional) Configure a role-specific notification using the Role granted trigger

Good to know

• Chapters are available on the Pro subscription and above.
• Custom roles are available on the Pro subscription and above.
• Deny overrides all permissions—use sparingly.
• Changing permissions incorrectly can affect your programme’s integrity.
• The standard 'User registered' notification triggers for all roles; use 'Role granted' instead if you want role-specific notifications.
• SMS notifications cannot be sent to numbers registered in Singapore or to UAE residents between 9pm and 7am.