Invite users and manage their access

Give each person their own user account, then grant the access their work requires. A staff profile stores employee information; a user account controls access to Activity Messenger.

Before inviting someone

Open Users and permissions from your organization settings or staff menu. Available actions depend on your own permissions. Use a separate email address for each person and avoid shared logins.

Decide what the person needs to do: administer the organization, manage communications, take attendance, work at the point of sale or view financial information. Prepare the forms and classes they should access.

Add one user or import a team

Open the user list and click +.
Enter the person's details and choose an appropriate permission level.
Review the role details and any granular permissions before saving.
Send the invitation. The person follows the email to activate their account and signs in with their own credentials.

For a group, use the Excel import and review its required columns and assigned permissions. If Amilia is connected, the Amilia import offers another way to bring in staff. Review the selected people before inviting them.

You can edit the invitation message from the control above the user table. Keep the activation instructions clear.

Use a user's email address for replies

Enable Use the user’s email address for replies when replies to that person's new email messages should go to their own inbox. The setting belongs to their access in this organization; it does not change the organization's default Reply-To address or SMS reply settings.

To change one user, open Users & Permissions, open the user, change the switch below Email, and save. When enabled, the user's Details in the table shows a Reply to badge with their email address.

To change several users:

Select the users in the table.
Choose Actions › Email reply settings.
In the same window, choose Enable user email for replies or Disable user email for replies.
Click Apply to N users, where N is the number selected.

You need permission to manage users and edit every selected user. If a selected user is no longer available or you cannot edit them, the bulk update does not change anyone's preference.

The preference starts enabled for newly added Instructor and Instructor (without messaging) users, and disabled for other new users. It does not grant messaging access to an instructor without messaging. Users already in the organization when this option was introduced remain disabled until someone changes it. Changing their access level or restoring an archived user does not reset the saved preference.

Users can also change their own preference in My Account › Update Information, under the organization's name, then click Update. Each organization has its own switch. In New message, a Replies to your email badge shows when the selected email Reply-To matches the sender's email. The sender can still choose another address in Sender & Reply settings for that message. See Choosing a Reply-To email address.

Understand roles, permissions and assignments

A role provides a starting level of access. It is not a complete description of every action the person can perform. Granular permissions, staff access scope, feature availability and assigned classes or forms also matter.

Work to perform	What to review
Manage the account or organization	Account-management roles, billing access and who can grant protected permissions.
Administer daily operations	Administrator role and the specific financial, form and user-management permissions needed.
Teach or take attendance	Instructor role, assigned activities/forms and whether messaging is allowed.
Send campaigns	Communications role and access to the relevant audience and templates.
Work at reception or checkout	Attendant or point-of-sale role and the allowed payment and financial operations.
Review accounts	Accountant role and the reports or invoices needed.
Maintain employee records	Staff-management role and the scope of profile, schedule and team access.
Receive copies only	Guest access and verified contact information.

Use Details to inspect the available role rather than assuming every administrator has identical access. Instructor access can include messaging or exclude it. A guest is not a substitute for an instructor who needs attendance access.

Review sensitive actions separately

Open the permission editor to review refunds, invoice cancellations, credits, corrections and other granular actions. Grant only the actions the person needs. Who can change these settings depends on the acting user's role and the target user; an administrator cannot necessarily edit every other user's access.

Staff profile and scheduling access can have a separate scope. See staff profiles instead of relying on the older assumption that all staff information is always restricted to a single account-owner role.

Update or revoke access

Open a user to update the information and permissions you are allowed to change, or resend an invitation. To remove access to this organization, use Revoke. This does not delete the person's account or their access to other organizations.

If an invitation is missing, confirm the email address, ask the person to check spam and mark a legitimate invitation as Not spam, then resend if needed. Their mail administrator can review blocked senders or domain allowlists. See sender-domain configuration if you use your own domain.

Help your team get started

Use the instructor dashboard message to provide relevant instructions or shortcuts. Send a message directly to selected users, or use BCC when they need a copy of a client message; see sending options.

Before relying on a role for a new workflow, verify it with an authorized account at that permission level in a separate browser session. Check the intended class/form, required action and a restricted action. Review assignments as well as the role if something is missing.

Permission templates

A permission template saves an Access level and a set of granular permissions under a name, so you can give several people the same access without setting each switch by hand. Templates are built in the template editor. Activity Messenger does not create a template from one user's current permissions: open the editor, choose the level and set the switches you want.

Create a template:

Open User management › Users & Permissions and click Permission templates.
Click Create a permission template.
Choose the Access level first. It decides which permissions are available. Changing the level resets the switches to its standard settings.
Enter a Template name, for example Front desk or Instructor.
Turn each permission on or off. A locked switch shows why: required by the level, unavailable for the level, or something your own account cannot change.
Select Use as the default for new users if this template should be preselected when you add users. Only one template can be the default.
Click Save.

Use Modify or Delete next to a template in the same window to change or remove it.

Apply a template to existing users:

In the user list, tick the checkbox of one or more users (up to 100 at a time).
Open Actions and choose Apply permission template.
Pick the template in Permission template and click Preview changes. The window lists, for each user, the new access level and each permission that will be enabled or disabled.
Click Apply permission template to confirm. The message Permission template applied. appears.

For a single user, click Modify in that user's Permission column, then Apply permission template at the top of the permission editor.

To use a template for a new person, pick it in Permission template at the top of Add a user. Choosing a different access level clears the selected template. The default template is preselected, and it is also used by imports and other creation paths when the new user has the same access level. Existing users are never updated automatically.

What to know before applying:

A template is copied, not linked. Editing or deleting it later does not change people who already received it.
Only the listed permissions and the access level change. Staff roles, location assignments and allowed payment methods stay as they are.
You cannot change your own access level with a template.
If the preview changes between Preview changes and Apply permission template, preview again.
The key-icon Permission templates button is shown to people who can manage users. Creating, changing, deleting and applying templates requires Account Owner, Organization Owner or Human Resources access. Levels you cannot assign are disabled. Templates for the Account Owner and Administrator levels need an Account Owner or Organization Owner.

To enable or disable one permission for many users without changing their access level, select them and use Actions › Bulk update permissions. For each permission choose Enable, Disable or Leave unchanged, then click Apply to N users (N is the number selected).

User hierarchy and access

The hierarchy page defines who is responsible for whom. Open User management › Hierarchy (address /organization/{id}/user/hierarchy). It appears only when the Hierarchy feature is turned on for your organization. Activity Messenger turns it on: contact support if you do not see it. The page opens a "page not found" message when the feature is off.

The page has three tabs, shown according to your permissions:

Structure (requires Can manage users): drag users from the Users list under their responsible person, or drop them at the top level (No responsible person). The default levels are Direction, Managers and Employees; use Add level or rename levels to match your organization. Preview shows the organization chart and Print PDF prints it. Changes are saved automatically. This tab shows a notice that the page is still under construction.
Access permissions (requires Can manage staff access permissions): the Staff access permissions table described below.
Notifications: routes staff notifications to the responsible person of each level and adds Additional recipients.

What the hierarchy changes:

In Access permissions, each row is an action such as View schedules or Approve time off, grouped as Scheduling and worked hours and Staff management. Each hierarchy level has its own selector with four choices: Existing permissions (keep the current role and individual permission behavior), No other staff, Staff below them (direct and indirect reports) and All staff. Use Hierarchy level to show one level or All levels.
Account Owner, Organization Owner and Human Resources always see all staff. A user who is not placed in the hierarchy keeps Existing permissions.
When a staff member submits a time off request, the responsible person receives the notification.
When the feature is on, scheduling windows offer Only show my team.

Users who can manage staff access but not users open the page directly on the Access permissions tab.

Staff records versus users

A user is a login: one email address with an access level in your organization. A staff profile is employee information (profile answers and forms) kept for that person. Viewing staff profiles, roles and qualifications is controlled by Can view staff profile, Can view staff roles and Can view staff qualifications, which are separate from Can manage users. See staff profiles and forms and manage staff records and access.

A third record, the staff resource, is what lets a person be scheduled. When your organization uses staff scheduling, Add a user offers Add to staff resources, off by default. Staff roles for scheduling and pay are separate from the access level.

To give someone a login, use Add a user (Single tab, or Import from Amilia to invite your Amilia staff) and choose a Permission. If the email already belongs to an Activity Messenger account, the person is added to your organization without a new activation. Otherwise they receive an activation email.

Some access levels are meant for staff who only do one job:

Instructor and Instructor (without messaging) track attendance and use only the attendance lists and forms assigned to them. Only Instructor can send messages. See attendance tracking.
Point of sale can operate configured POS stations, open and close the cash register, and see only the Register operations and Payments reports. In the permission editor the only optional permission is Can view payments and sales reports of others. These users see a reduced menu.
Access control is intended only for tablets used at access control checkpoints. These users also see a reduced menu.
Attendant operates the point of sale and sees all attendance lists, which Point of sale does not.

Transfer a user's email or remove many users

Change email. If someone must sign in with a different address, open the user, click Change email, enter the new Email and click Preview transfer. The preview compares the linked records that would move. Tick the confirmation and click Change email and transfer records. Permissions, staff resources, assignments and client records move to the account using the new email, and the old account loses access to this organization only. A new account receives an invitation. By default only Activity Messenger support can run this action: contact support to request it.

Remove many users. Tick the users, then choose Actions › Archive. Archiving removes their access to this organization without deleting their accounts. Tick Also remove linked staff resources if they should no longer be schedulable. To bring someone back, use the filter menu to show Archived users and click Restore. Use Actions › Send an invitation email to resend invitations to selected users who have not confirmed.

Settings reference

Setting	Where	Default	Effect
Hierarchy	Enabled by Activity Messenger for your organization	Off	Turns on User management › Hierarchy, the Only show my team switch and hierarchy routing of staff notifications.
Use as the default for new users	Permission templates › create or Modify a template	Off	Preselects this template in Add a user and applies it to imports when the new user has the same access level. Only one template can be the default.
Permission template	Add a user	The default template if there is one, otherwise No template — standard access-level settings	Sets the access level and its permissions for the new user.
Staff access scope	Hierarchy › Access permissions, per action and level	Existing permissions	Chooses No other staff, Staff below them or All staff for that action and level.
Send an invitation email	Add a user	On	Emails an activation link. Turn it off to invite the person later.
Add to staff resources	Add a user (when staff scheduling is on)	Off	Creates a linked staff resource so the person can be assigned and scheduled.
Also remove linked staff resources	Actions › Archive	Off	Removes the archived users' staff resources from scheduling.
Limit attendance to today for staff	Organization settings › Attendance › Attendance taking	Off	Instructors can only use today's date on Today and attendance list pages.
Limit staff to assigned groups	Organization settings › Attendance › Attendance taking	Off	When staff are assigned to groups in an activity, they see only those groups and participants.
Only show my team	Scheduling windows (when Hierarchy is on)	Off	Limits the people shown to your direct and indirect reports.

Common questions

How do I give several users the same permissions? Create a template in Permission templates, select the users, then use Actions › Apply permission template. See the Permission templates section. To change one permission only, use Actions › Bulk update permissions.

Can I save one user's permissions as a template? No. Build the template in Create a permission template by choosing the access level and switches. Applying a template copies the settings, so later edits to the template do not change existing users.

What is the hierarchy page for? It records who is responsible for whom. The structure drives time off notifications, Only show my team, and the Staff below them scope for staff access. See the User hierarchy and access section.

I do not see Hierarchy in the menu. Why? The feature must be turned on for your organization by Activity Messenger, and you need Can manage users or Can manage staff access permissions.

Is a staff profile a login? No. A staff profile holds employee information. Only a user can sign in. See the Staff records versus users section.

A staff member cannot see today's attendance after I checked her in, why? Checking someone in records her presence. It does not assign her to the class. Instructors see in Today only the classes where they are an assigned staff member (and bookings at a location linked to them). Open the class settings and select her under the staff who can track attendance. Only Account Owners, Organization Owners, Human Resources, Administrators and Attendants see every list. Also check Limit attendance to today for staff and Limit staff to assigned groups. See attendance tracking.

What can a point-of-sale or access-control user open? Point of sale users reach the POS, their cash register and the Payments reports. Access control users are meant for checkpoint tablets. Neither is a general staff login.

Can I change a user's email address? Use Change email on the user. By default only Activity Messenger support can run it, so contact support.

Can a user belong to several organizations? Yes. One login can have a different access level in each organization, and the organization menu in the top bar lets the person switch. If the email already has an account, adding it gives access to your organization without a new activation. Revoke access, Archive and Change email affect only your organization.