Creating & Editing Custom Roles

Ayesha
Ayesha
This article explains how to create a custom role in Xenia from start to finish. You will learn to define role details, set permissions, assign users, and configure the homepage layout effectively.

1. Overview of Custom Role Creation

Structure

Where to Manage Roles

All role management lives in one place: Settings → Users, Teams & Roles → Roles tab

From here you can:

  • View all existing roles and their permission counts
  • Create new roles
  • Edit any custom role
  • Duplicate a role as a starting point
  • Delete roles (with caution — ) 

2. Navigate to Roles Tab

Creating a New Role — Step by Step

Step 1 — Open the Create Role flow

  1. Go to Settings → Users, Teams & Roles → Roles tab

Click Create Role in the upper right

Navigate to Roles Tab

Click Create New Role Button

3. Understand Role Creation Flow

Step 2 — Fill in Role Details

  • Name: Use your org's actual job title (e.g., "Store Manager," "District Manager," "Line Cook") — not generic labels like "Full User" or "Basic." This name appears when you assign projects, in reports, and in notification routing.
  • Description: Optional but useful for documentation purposes
  • Reports To: Select the role directly above this one in your org chart. This powers conditional notifications. Example: if you're creating a Store Manager role, set "Reports To" to District Manager (or whatever your next-level management role is). If you're creating a frontline Cashier role, set "Reports To" to Store Manager. Leave blank only if there's no role above this one that should receive escalation notifications.

Click Next to proceed to Permissions.

Understand Role Creation Flow

4. Configure Task Access and Visibility

Step 3 — Configure Permissions

This is the most important step. Permissions are organized by module. Work through each section:

Tasks:

PermissionStore/FrontlineStore ManagerDistrict ManagerAdmin
Access Tasks✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON
View own tasks✅ Select
View tasks at locations✅ Select✅ Select
View all tasks✅ Select
Manage TasksOFFOptional✅ ON✅ ON
Assign to any user/locationOFFOFFOptional✅ ON
Change status of own tasks✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON
Change status of others' tasksOFF✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON

Configure Task Access and Visibility

Click the on toggle to enable task access for this role.

Enable Task Access

5. Set Operations Template Permissions

Operations Templates:

PermissionStore/FrontlineStore ManagerAdmin
Access Operations Templates✅ ON✅ ON✅ ON
Manage Templates❌ OFF❌ OFF✅ ON

⚠️ Keep Manage Templates OFF for all store and frontline roles. This is the most commonly misconfigured permission. If a store-level user accidentally archives or deletes a template, it affects every location using that template.

Set Operations Template Permissions

6. Proceed to Assign Users Step

Click Next: Assign Users to move to the user assignment step in the role creation process.

Proceed to Assign Users Step

7. Assign Users to Role

 Assigning Users to a Role

After creating a role, you assign users to it when you invite them or update existing users:

When inviting a new user:

  • Settings → Users → Add User → select the role from the dropdown

For existing users:

  • Settings → Users → find the user → three dots → Update → change the role

Important: One account = one role. A user can only be in one role at a time. If a user needs a different set of permissions for a specific context, they'd need a second account (uncommon, but possible).

Assign Users to Role

8. Select Homepage Layout

Step 4 — Set the Homepage Layout

This is Step 3 of the role creation flow. Choose what this role sees when they open Xenia:

Role TypeRecommended Layout
Frontline crew, cashiers, cooksLocation Pulse Dashboard
Store ManagerLocation Pulse Dashboard
District / Area ManagerAbove Store View
Field Auditor / InspectorField Team Dashboard
QA / Compliance rolesAudit Insights Dashboard
Regional Director / VPPreset Custom Dashboard
AdminDefault View

Select Homepage Layout

9. Click Preview Homepage Layout

Click Preview next to any option to see what it looks like before committing.

Click Preview Homepage Layout

10. Click Create Role Button

Click Create Role to save.

Click Create Role Button

11. Duplicate Existing Role

The Faster Way: Duplicating an Existing Role

If you already have a role that's close to what you need, duplicating is faster than starting from scratch.

  1. Find the role you want to duplicate
  2. Click the three dots (⋯) next to it
  3. Select Duplicate
  4. Rename it and adjust the permissions as needed

Important: Duplicating a role copies the permission configuration only. It does not copy users. You'll still need to assign users to the new role after creating it.

This is especially useful when creating role variants — for example, if you have a Store Manager role and need a slightly different version for a Senior Store Manager with one or two additional permissions.

12. Edit Existing Role Details

 Editing an Existing Role

To edit any custom role:

  1. Go to Settings → Roles
  2. Click the three dots next to the role → Edit
  3. Work through the same three steps: Details → Permissions → Homepage Layout
  4. Click Update Role to save

Changes take effect immediately for all users in that role. No logout or refresh required.

What you cannot edit:

  • Owner and Admin preset roles are locked — they cannot be modified
  • The role name cannot be changed in a way that would break existing project assignments (though you can rename for display purposes)

13. Set Permissions Changes

Now click on Next to go to Set Permissions. Here you can make changes to the user, the role, and their permissions.
This article guided you through creating and managing custom roles in Xenia, including naming, setting reporting fields, configuring permissions, and selecting homepage layouts. For more information, see related articles on user management and role permissions in the knowledge base.

Common Role Configuration Mistakes
MistakeImpactFix
Giving frontline roles "Manage Templates"Staff can edit, archive, or delete your checklistsTurn OFF Manage Templates in the role
Setting task visibility to "View own" for a store managerManager can't see their team's tasksChange to "View tasks at your locations"
Not setting "Reports To" on any roleConditional notification escalation doesn't workEdit each role and set the "Reports To" field
Naming roles generically ("Full User," "Basic User")Project assignments and reports are confusingRename roles to match actual job titles
Giving all roles "Assign to any user or location"Any user can reassign tasks to anyone — including outside their locationKeep this ON only for Admin/Owner
Setting "View all tasks" for store-level rolesStore employees can see tasks from all locations in the workspaceChange to "View tasks at your locations"

Need Help? 
For assistance please reach out to us at support@xenia.team

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