If you’ve ever watched your tidy little Letterfriend workspace start to sprawl—more writers, more editors, more “who the heck is this?” in the user list—you know it’s time to get serious about roles and permissions. This guide is for folks running bigger teams who want to keep things organized, secure, and (mostly) drama-free. If you’ve got more than three people touching content, read on.
1. Why Roles and Permissions Matter (and Where Letterfriend Shines & Sputters)
Before we get into the weeds, let’s be clear: managing roles and permissions isn’t about bureaucracy. It’s about sanity. When everyone can do everything, mistakes happen—drafts get deleted, sensitive stuff gets shared, and eventually, someone asks why the intern just published a press release.
Letterfriend gives you enough tools to avoid chaos, but it’s not perfect. Here’s what you get:
Pros: - It has built-in roles: Admin, Editor, Contributor. - You can invite, promote, and demote users fairly easily. - Activity logs help you see who did what (usually).
Cons: - No fine-grained, custom permissions (yet). - All admins are equally powerful—no “super admin.” - No role-based access for specific folders or content types.
So, Letterfriend covers 90% of what most teams need. If you want granular, legal-department-level controls, you’ll have to look elsewhere (or keep pestering their product team).
2. Step 1: Decide What Access People Actually Need
Resist the urge to just make everyone an admin. Start by mapping out who needs to do what. Here’s a quick rundown:
- Admins: Full access. Can manage users, settings, billing, and all content.
- Editors: Can edit, schedule, and publish content. No user management.
- Contributors: Can draft and submit content but can’t publish or edit others' work.
Pro tip: The fewer admins, the better. Give admin rights only to people who actually need them—usually, that’s one or two trusted folks.
How to Figure Out Who Gets What
- Writers? Contributor is almost always enough.
- Content leads or managers? Editor.
- Anyone who pays the bills or sets up integrations? Admin.
If someone’s job changes, change their role. Don’t let the access list get stale.
3. Step 2: Add and Invite Users the Right Way
Here’s how to bring new people in without chaos:
- Go to Settings → Team Management.
- Click “Invite User.”
- Enter their email and choose the right role (Contributor, Editor, Admin).
- Send the invite.
The invited user gets an email to join your workspace. Sounds basic, but double-check the role before hitting send—it’s easy to give away too much power by accident.
Avoid These Common Pitfalls
- Don’t invite users with personal emails if you can help it. Use company domains so you know who’s who.
- Don’t leave old accounts hanging around after someone leaves. Disable or remove them right away.
- If someone’s just “helping out” for a week, give them the lowest access possible.
4. Step 3: Adjust Roles and Permissions as Your Team Grows
Growth brings churn—people join, leave, or switch roles. Stay on top of it:
- Regularly review your user list. Once a month is plenty.
- Downgrade roles if responsibilities change. Don’t wait until after a mistake.
- Remove access for former team members immediately. Security 101.
Letterfriend lets you change a user’s role anytime. Just go to Team Management, click the user, and select a new role from the dropdown.
What About Temporary Access?
There’s no built-in “expiration” for access in Letterfriend. If you need someone to have admin rights for a day, set yourself a reminder to downgrade them later. It’s not elegant, but it works.
5. Step 4: Use Activity Logs (But Don’t Rely on Them to Solve Everything)
Letterfriend’s activity logs show who did what—publishing, editing, deleting. This is helpful for troubleshooting or tracking down mistakes.
But:
- The logs aren’t super detailed. You’ll see what happened, not always why.
- There’s no rollback for most actions. If someone deletes a draft, it’s gone.
So, use logs as a safety net, but don’t expect miracles. Prevention—by setting the right roles—is much safer than trying to fix things after the fact.
6. Step 5: Communicate Your Policy (and Stick to It)
Even if your team is just five people, write down your policy somewhere. It doesn’t have to be fancy—just a Google Doc that says:
- What each role means in your context.
- Who is responsible for user management.
- How quickly you’ll remove access for folks who leave.
Why bother? Because “I thought I was supposed to be an editor!” arguments are way less fun than just pointing to a policy.
7. What Doesn’t Work (and What to Ignore)
A quick reality check:
- Don’t try to hack custom permissions. Letterfriend isn’t built for that. If you find yourself wanting to give “publish-only access to the marketing folder,” you’ll be frustrated.
- Don’t make everyone an admin “just in case.” That’s how you get security nightmares.
- Don’t ignore the user list for months. It’s boring, but it’s how problems start.
8. Pro Tips for Larger Teams
A few things that actually help when your team gets big:
- Name conventions: Have users use real names, not nicknames or inside jokes. The user list should make sense to someone outside your bubble.
- Onboarding checklist: When adding someone new, run through a quick checklist: right role, correct email, welcome message with expectations.
- Offboarding process: When someone leaves, immediately remove access, and update shared passwords or integrations if needed.
- Regular audits: Once a quarter, review everyone’s access. No one loves it, but it keeps things clean.
9. What to Do If Letterfriend’s Permissions Aren’t Enough
For most teams, the built-in roles will do the job. But if you really need:
- Folder-level access
- Custom roles (like “can edit but not publish”)
- Integration with SSO or company-wide user management
…Letterfriend isn’t there yet. Either adjust your workflow to fit what it offers, or consider a different tool. Don’t try to force advanced security into an app that isn’t designed for it—you’ll just create headaches.
10. Keep It Simple—and Keep Iterating
Managing roles and permissions isn’t a one-time thing. Keep your setup as simple as possible, review it regularly, and don’t be afraid to make changes as your team shifts. The tighter your controls, the fewer fires you’ll have to put out later.
Roles and permissions in Letterfriend aren’t complicated, but they only work if you use them with intention. Start small, stay organized, and you’ll spend a lot less time cleaning up avoidable messes.