Permissions in People
You can grant different permissions to allow pastors, administrators, staff, and key volunteers to view, edit, or customize the information in People.
Tip
Planning Center People is designed for staff use. If you're looking for a way for your congregation to share their information and connect with each other, use the directory!
Share the Introduction for staff members article with your staff to help them get the most out of People!
The tables below cover the basic permissions for managers, editors, and viewers in People.
Important
A collaborator is someone who has permission to view and/or edit a specific resource, like a list, workflow, custom profile note category, form, or custom field. If a People administrator needs access to one of these resources, someone with managing permissions for that resource can add them as a collaborator in the resource's settings.
People
Manager | Editor | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
View information | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Add people | ✓ | ✓ | |
Edit campus | ✓ | ✓ | |
Edit people (except organization administrators) | ✓ | ✓ | * |
Merge people | ✓ | ||
Change permissions in People | ✓ | ||
Send emails | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
View sent messages on a profile | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
View message history under lists | ✓ | * | * |
Manage email templates | ✓ | ||
Manage custom email senders | ✓ | ||
Set up, manage, and invite people to the directory | ✓ | ||
Create note categories | ✓ | ||
Manage custom fields | ✓ | ||
Manage custom tabs | ✓ | ||
Create custom reports | ✓ | ||
Import CSV | ✓ | ||
Export CSV | ✓ | * | * |
Promote grades | ✓ |
Important
Only an organization administrator can delete profiles and give background check access to certain permission levels or people.
If a person has permissions to edit profiles in other products (e.g., they have high enough permissions to edit profiles in Services), they'll also have the ability to edit profiles in People.
Lists
Manager | Editor | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
Create new lists | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Access assigned lists | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Edit and delete lists | * | * | |
Manage categories | ✓ | ||
Send a text message, email, or Church Center message | ✓ | * | * |
Create and manage automation | ✓ | ✓ |
Forms
Manager | Editor | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
View submissions | ✓ | * | * |
Add, edit, or delete fields | ✓ | * | * |
Create a form | ✓ | * | * |
Manage settings | ✓ | * | * |
Create and manage automation | ✓ | ✓ |
Profile notes
Manager | Editor | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
View assigned notes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create notes | * | * | * |
Delete notes | * | * | * |
Manage category | * |
Workflows
For instructions on how to grant and remove workflow permission levels, check out the article dedicated to workflow permissions.
Workflow permission levels
Manage workflow | Edit all cards | Edit assigned cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
Edit non-assigned cards | ✓ | ✓ | |
Delete cards | ✓ | ✓ | |
Add new cards | ✓ | ✓ | |
Configure steps | ✓ | ||
Give others access | ✓ | ||
Delete workflow | ✓ |
Giving people access to Planning Center depends on their role at your church. Staff and background-checked leaders may have enough trust to access people's information, whether to edit or view, but people outside of that trusted circle should be given lower permissions.
This table outlines who can access people's contact information based on their permissions in another product.
Can edit | Can view | No access | |
|---|---|---|---|
Account settings | Organization administrators (in all products except Giving) | Billing managers | |
Calendar | People editor | People viewer | Any event, room, or resource permission |
Check-Ins | Editor | Viewer | Headcounter |
Giving | Administrator Bookkeeper Counter |
| Reviewer |
Groups | Administrator | Group type manager Leader (everyone in their group) Member (everyone in their group who has made info visible) | Members under the age of 13 |
People | Manager Editor | Viewer | |
Publishing | Administrators | ||
Registrations | Administrator Manager (only attendees in signup) | ||
Services | Administrator Editor (based on settings) Scheduler (based on settings) | Viewer (based on settings) | Scheduled viewer |
Organization administrators have access to specific parts of Planning Center that no other permission can access, so please familiarize yourself with them as early as possible.
Product | Task |
|---|---|
Account settings | |
Calendar | Enable Church Center to host your calendar |
Check-Ins | Enable the Church Center mobile app for pre-check Change the localization settings that all event times are based on |
Giving | Enable Church Center to host your donation form Connect Planning Center Payments to accept online donations (done in account settings) |
Groups | Enable Church Center for group engagement Change the localization settings that all event times are based on |
People | Set an expiration date for background checks Manage background check administrators Deactivate two-step verification for a profile Change a person's login method |
Publishing | |
Registrations | Enable Church Center to host signups Connect Planning Center Payments to accept online payments (done in account settings) |
Services | Choose default permission settings Update default settings for the Lyrics & chords editor |
Add or edit permissions
Follow the steps below to edit a person's permission level, as well as manage any additional permissions that may apply to their permission level.
Choose the People page from the top navigation.
Search or scroll to find the person you want to edit permissions for.
On their profile page, select the Actions button to the right of the person's name and profile photo.
Choose Manage permissions from the dropdown.
In the Permission level dropdown, select which level of access to give this person and any additional permissions.
Select the Update button at the bottom of the window to save your changes.
Remove permissions
To remove permissions:
Choose the People page from the top navigation.
Search or scroll to find the person's name for whom you want to remove permissions.
On their profile page, select the Actions button to the right of the person's name and profile photo.
Choose Manage permissions from the dropdown.
In the Permission level dropdown, choose No access.
Select the Update button at the bottom of the window.
Once a person's permissions are removed, they will encounter an error page the next time they try to log in to People.
When is someone notified of permission changes?
When you change someone's permissions in Planning Center, they may receive a notification, depending on the type of change.
Add a new person
When someone who has never logged into your organization is granted access to Planning Center, they receive an email notification.
The email welcomes them and lists all of the products they've been given access to, their permission levels in those products, and explains how to log in.
Upgrade an existing person's permissions
When someone already in Planning Center has their permission levels upgraded, they receive an email notification.
The email tells them that their access level has changed, lists all of the products they have access to and their permission levels in those products, and highlights which permission levels were upgraded.
Important
This applies to all products except Publishing. There is only one permission level in Publishing, so it is not possible to upgrade a person's permissions.
Remove or downgrade an existing person's permissions
When an existing person's permission levels or product access are removed or downgraded, they don't receive an email notification unless the change was made to an organization administrator; then all organization administrators are notified.
Warning
If an organization administrator's access is removed, they will be notified via email. This is a security measure to provide awareness in the event of a profile takeover.
If a person's permissions are upgraded in one product and downgraded in another, their notification email will show their new downgraded permission in the second product. However, there will be no indication that it was changed.
Additionally, the following cases are exceptions in Giving:
When someone's role is revoked in Giving, they receive an email notifying them of the change.
When someone is removed from Giving, administrators and bookkeepers are notified.
Administrators and bookkeepers are also notified if a new Giving administrator is created or an existing administrator's permissions are changed or removed.