Users – UpStream

What Can UpStream Users Do in UpStream?

UpStream Staff — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 17:21:59 +0000

This “UpStream User” role is designed for your staff members who are working on your projects. These users do not have high-level permissions to modify settings or projects.

In this guide, we’ll give you an overview of what UpStream Users can do by default. If you want to dig deeper and customize permissions, click here to read about UpStream’s permission options.

UpStream Users should be told to access the /projects/ URL on the frontend of your site. UpStream is designed so that they interact with projects via the frontend of WordPress. You can see a chart of their permissions here.

Important: UpStream Users can see projects only if an item has been assigned to them in that project. Remember that an UpStream User is an ordinary staff member who is working inside a project. If they do not need to do anything in a project, then an UpStream User can not access that project.

Normally, UpStream User will not log in to the WordPress admin area. However, every WordPress user gets some access to the WordPress admin area – this is a WordPress feature that is independent of WordPress. To stop this from being a problem, an UpStream User will not able to edit anything except for their profile.

This image shows what they would see in the WordPress admin area. An UpStream User can not do anything here, except click “View” to visit the frontend of a project.

Promoting an UpStream User for a Project

It is possible to promote an UpStream User for a single project.

An Administrator or UpStream Manager can take an UpStream User and make them into a “Project Owner“. After this is done, the UpStream User will have full management permissions for the project.

Advanced Permissions for Client Users

If you need to have different permissions than what’s built in, you can use the Advanced Permissions module.

UpStream’s advanced permissions module allows you to define nearly any scenario, and set your permissions to match. To do this, you create an XML document and enter it in the Advanced Permissions configuration section under UpStream settings. You can see the instructions for use here.

Remember, we’re here to help — you can contact us at any time if you need help with the XML.

How to Create New Clients and Client Users

Steve Jordan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 18:30:33 +0000

You add new Clients from the admin area of your WordPress site.

Inside your WordPress site, go to Projects > New Client.

You can create both Client and Client Users from this screen. If you’re unsure of the difference, read this guide. The short version is that the Client is the company, and the Client Users are the people:

Client: Apple
Client User: Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Jony Ive

The image below shows that the Client is “Apple”. Also in this image, you can see that multiple Client Users are assigned to this Client.

Creating New Client Users

Any Client User must already have an account on your WordPress site.

You can create accounts by following these steps:

Go to the “Users” link in your WordPress admin menu.
Create a new user.
Place the user in the “UpStream Client User” role.

Once that’s done, follow these steps:

Go to Projects > Clients.
Edit a Client.
Click “Add Existing User”.

You will be asked to choose from a list of all existing WordPress users who have the “UpStream Client User” role:

If you want to find out what Client Users can and can not do, click here to read about Client User permissions.

How to Add Avatars for Users and Clients

Steve Jordan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 19:25:34 +0000

By default, UpStream will show photos / avatars for your users.

These avatars appear in multiple places. They help UpStream feel like a friendlier place to work, and they make it easier to see how is assigned to various projects, tasks and milestones.

By default, WordPress relies on the Gravatar.com site to hold user avatars. If your email address is registered with both Gravatar.com and your WordPress site, your photo will appear. One easy way to test this is to look in the top-right corner of your WordPress admin screen. If you see your photo there, you have a working avatar.

However, many people do not have Gravatar accounts. UpStream also supports avatars provided by several popular plugins:

If you install one of these plugins, your Client Users will be able to upload one of their own avatars.

What Can Client Users Do in UpStream?

Steve Jordan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:26:00 +0000

This “UpStream Client User” role is designed for your clients. They are the people paying your bills, so they have any interest in how the project is going. They have permission to access projects that you assign them to.

In this guide, we’ll give you an overview of what UpStream Client Users can do by default. If you want to dig deeper and customize permissions, click here to read about UpStream’s permission options.

An UpStream Client User will not normally log in to the WordPress admin area. However, every WordPress user gets some access to the WordPress admin area – this is a WordPress feature that is independent of WordPress. To stop this from being a problem, an UpStream Client User will only be able to edit their profile. This image shows what they would see in the WordPress admin area:

An UpStream Client User should be told to access the /projects/ URL. UpStream is designed so that they interact with projects here, via the frontend of your site. Here they can see all the projects that they have been given access to:

Basic Permissions for Client Users

If you want to allow your Client Users to add tasks, bugs, files and more, you can do this if you have the the Frontend Edit extension installed.

Although Client Users don’t normally do the work in a project, it is possible to assign Tasks, Files, Bugs and other items to Upstream Client Users.

For example, if you need an UpStream Client User to send you a logo file, you can create a File called “Logo” and assign it to your client.

If you have the Email Notifications extension installed, the user will get email reminders about the item.

Action	Upstream Client User
Can create projects	No
Can view projects	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area
Can edit project info (title, status, owner, description, etc.)	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area
Can delete projects	No
Can view project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area
Can edit project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them
Can delete project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them
Can add project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area

If you would like to see a similar chart for default permissions for all user types, click here.

Advanced Permissions for Client Users

By default, UpStream Client Users are NOT given many permissions. Things they can not do include:

Manage the site-wide UpStream settings
Manage UpStream settings for individual projects.
Access Projects they are not directly assigned to.
Add Milestones

However, it is possible to customize any or all of the permissions given to Client Users using our Advanced Permissions module.

With Advanced Permissions, you can set each fields as hidden, read-only, or editable based on the user. You can also allow or deny access based on who a project/task/etc. is assigned to, the item ID, the creator, the client organization, their role, their user, and much more.

You can learn about Advanced Permissions here.

For Older Versions of UpStream

The documentation below is for versions of UpStream earlier than 1.27. It is here for historical purposes only. Please see above for the latest versions.

UpStream works with the WordPress core, so many user management plugins will work with UpStream.

For example, the Members plugin is free to use, and will allow you to change the permissions for UpStream roles. The image below shows how you can change the permissions for Client Users. Click here for instructions on using Members with UpStream.

What Can UpStream Managers Do in UpStream?

Steve Jordan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:27:30 +0000

Users who are in the UpStream Manager roles can basically do anything within UpStream.

By default, this role has full control over all UpStream settings, all projects, all clients and basically has every permission and capability within the UpStream plugin. If you want to dig deeper and customize permissions, click here to read about UpStream’s permission options. You can see a chart of each user type and their default permissions here.

When an UpStream Manager logs into the WordPress admin area, they will see the menu options in the menu below. Many of the default WordPress options are missing, but the UpStream Managers have full access to UpStream:

The UpStream Manager will have access to all the features under “Projects”:

For these reasons, be careful who you place in the UpStream Manager role. They will have powerful access to all your projects.

For current versions of UpStream, you cannot change the permissions of the UpStream manager role.

For Older Versions of UpStream

The documentation below is for versions of UpStream earlier than 1.27. It is here for historical purposes only. Please see above for the latest versions.

For UpStream 1.27 and later, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO NOT MODIFY ANY ROLES OR CAPABILITIES.

It is possible to customize some of the permissions given to UpStream Managers.

UpStream works with the WordPress core, so many user management plugins will work with UpStream.

For example, the Members plugin is free to use, and will allow you to change the permissions for UpStream roles. The image below shows how you can change the permissions for UpStream Managers. Click here for instructions on using Members with UpStream.

What is an Owner in UpStream?

Steve Jordan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:42:17 +0000

By default, UpStream Users have access to a limited set of features inside each project.

Inside a project, many settings will not be available to UpStream Users.

However, it is possible to promote an UpStream User for a single project.

An Administrator or UpStream Manager can take an UpStream User and make them into an “ Owner”. After this is done, the UpStream User will have full management permissions for the project.

How to Customize Upstream Permissions (UpStream Versions 1.27 and earlier)

Steve Jordan — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 20:11:45 +0000

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR OLDER VERSIONS OF UPSTREAM

For the most recent UpStream versions, please go to Advanced Permissions.

The documentation below is for versions of UpStream earlier than 1.27. It is here for historical purposes only.

For UpStream 1.27 or later, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO NOT MODIFY ANY ROLES OR CAPABILITIES AS DESCRIBED BELOW. USE ADVANCED PERMISSIONS INSTEAD.

By default, UpStream provides three default user groups:

UpStream Manager
UpStream User
UpStream Client User

These user groups have default permissions, but it is possible to customize the permissions.

Click here to read about UpStream’s permission options.

If you are a developer, try these instructions. If you want to use a plugin, keep reading!

It is absolutely possible to find plugins that are able to customize WordPress user permissions. In this guide, we’ll show you how to use the Members plugin with UpStream.

Install the Members plugin
Click “Users” in the WordPress admin menu, and then “Roles”.
You will see three UpStream roles.

Find the role that you want to customize, and click the “edit” link:

Inside this area, under the “Projects” link you will see a list of the permissions available in UpStream. Click “Grant” to give the permissions to this user role, or click “Deny” to take the permission away from them.

You will find more permissions under the “Clients” tab:

And also you will find more permissions under the “Custom” tab:

How to Add Users to an UpStream Project

Steve Jordan — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 11:50:02 +0000

There are two different types of users in UpStream:

Clients: who are not expected to do any work.
Users: who do the work in the project.

If you want to add a users to an UpStream Project, by default, they should have one of these WordPress user roles:

However, you can expand this to other roles. Go to Settings > General and choose in the “Project User Roles” area.

If a user does not have one of these roles, you will not be able to add them to projects or assign them items.

Adding Users to UpStream

To add a user to a particular role, go to “Users” and then edit a user.

You can choose the user’s role via the “Role” dropdown:

How UpStream Handles Media and File Uploads

Steve Jordan — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 19:07:21 +0000

Here at UpStream, we love to use as much of the default WordPress features as possible. For example, UpStream comments use the WordPress comments system.

And, when it comes to file uploads for UpStream projects, we use the WordPress media library.

This has several big advantages. As an UpStream user, you can easily upload around 30 file types, from JPG and PNG images to Powerpoint and Word documents.

However, some things about the WordPress core do require caution. For example, the WordPress doesn’t have any restrictions on images so anyone can get access to any file inside the media library. This is not a good idea for a project management site. You don’t want “Client A” in one project to see the files for “Client B” in another project,

UpStream solves this by automatically restricting users to their own media. If UpStream is installed on your site, this image below shows what new users will see. They do not have access to anyone else’s files. You will only be able see other people’s files if those people choose to add them to an UpStream project.

However, this feature is cutomizable. There is an option in the WordPress settings so you can select which roles which can see all the whole Media Library.

What Permissions Are Available in UpStream?

Steve Jordan — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:43:45 +0000

UpStream has a complicated permissions system that goes further than what you can do with standard WordPress. With UpStream, it’s possible to set permissions on each individual field. Permissions can be set by project, by user, by role, and much more.

The standard permissions model for UpStream defines these roles: UpStream Manager, UpStream User, and UpStream Client User. The default settings for these roles can be viewed below:

Action	Upstream Manager	Upstream User	Upstream Client User
Can create projects	Yes	No	No
Can view projects	Yes; can view any projects	Yes, only if they are the project owner or are assigned to a component (milestone, task, bug, etc.)	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area
Can edit project info (title, status, owner, description, etc.)	Yes; can edit project info for any project	Yes, only if they are the project owner or they are assigned to any component (milestone, task, bug, etc.) of the project **	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area **
Can delete projects	Yes; for any project	No **	No **
Can view project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes; for any project	Yes; they can view any component of a project if they are assigned to any component of that project (milestone, task, bug, etc.)	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area
Can edit project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes; for any project	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them **	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them or ones they created **
Can delete project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes; for any project	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them **	Yes, only the components (milestone, task, bug, etc.) assigned to them or ones that they created **
Can add project components (milestones, tasks, bugs, etc.)	Yes; for any project	Yes; they can add new components to a project if they are assigned to any component of that project (milestone, task, bug, etc.) **	Yes, only if they are selected under the Client Users list in the Project Details section of the admin area **

** Requires UpStream Frontend Edit extension (UpStream User and Client User roles can only edit via the front end interface).

Customizing Permissions

You can do all sorts of customization on UpStream permissions using the Advanced Permissions module.

Advanced Permissions allows you to set each individual field as hidden, read-only, or editable. And you can allow or deny based on who a project/task/etc. is assigned to, the item ID, the creator, the client organization, their role, their user, and much more.

Advanced Permissions also allows you to set an anonymous view option, so certain projects are publicly viewable without logging in.

With Advanced Permissions, you can define nearly any scenario, and set your permissions to match. To do this, you create an XML document and enter it in the Advanced Permissions configuration section under UpStream settings.

For more information on Advanced Permissions, see here.

For Older Versions of UpStream

The documentation below is for versions of UpStream earlier than 1.27. It is here for historical purposes only. Please see above for the latest versions.

For UpStream 1.27 or later, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO NOT MODIFY ANY ROLES OR CAPABILITIES

This list was created in October 2018 and it will change. We’re working on making these permissions more consistent, and also improving the documentation for each capability.

To control these permissions, you will need to install an extra plugin. We recommend Members, but UpStream uses the WordPress core permissions system and so is compatible with many more plugins.

Please note that the core permissions system in WordPress is not always clear. We do recommend that you test thoroughly if controlling permissions is important for your site.

This video is an introduction to UpStream permissions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ218Nm2iwA

OVERALL

This capability allows users to access the main “UpStream” settings area in the WordPress admin.

manage_upstream

PROJECTS

These capabilities below allow users to manage projects inside UpStream:

edit_projects
edit_project
delete_project
delete_projects
publish_projects
read_project
edit_published_projects
delete_published_projects
edit_others_projects
delete_others_projects
edit_private_projects
delete_private_projects
read_private_projects

These next two capabilities allow you to change the users associated with a project. If you have these capabilities, you can change the author of a project and the users attached to a project.

edit_project_author
project_users_field

The seven capabilities below allow you to control the specific details associated with each project:

project_title_field: you can edit the project’s name
project_status_field: you can change the status of the project
project_owner_field: you can change the Project Owner
project_client_field: you can choose the Client for the project
project_users_field: you can select the users assigned to the project
project_start_date_field: you can select the Start Date for the project
project_end_date_field: you can choose the End Date for the project

This image below show are how those seven capabilities are implemented on the frontend of UpStream. If you do not have permission to edit these fields, they will not be editable.

CLIENTS

These capabilities allow you to manage different aspects of the Clients feature in UpStream:

edit_client
read_client
delete_client
assign_client_terms
edit_client_terms
delete_client_terms
manage_client_terms

TASKS

These capabilities allow you to access to different Tasks features in UpStream.

The “publish_project_tasks” capability controls whether users can publish and also edit Tasks.

publish_project_tasks

These capabilities control whether or not users can edit specific details for Tasks:

task_title_field
task_assigned_to_field
task_status_field
task_progress_field
task_milestone_field
task_start_date_field
task_end_date_field
task_notes_field

This image below show are how those seven capabilities are implemented on the frontend of UpStream. If you do not have permission to edit these fields, they will not be editable.

BUGS

These capabilities allow you to access to different Bugs features in UpStream.

The “publish_project_bugs” capability controls whether users can publish and also edit Tasks.

publish_project_bugs

These capabilities control whether or not users can edit specific details for Bugs:

bug_title_field
bug_assigned_to_field
bug_severity_field
bug_status_field
bug_due_date_field
bug_description_field
bug_file_field

MILESTONES

These capabilities control whether or not users can edit specific details for Milestones:

milestone_milestone_field
milestone_assigned_to_field
milestone_start_date_field
milestone_end_date_field
milestone_notes_field

FILES

This capability controls whether or not users can publish and edit Files in UpStream projects:

publish_project_files

DISCUSSIONS

These capabilities control whether or not users can publish and edit Discussions in UpStream projects:

publish_project_discussion
delete_project_discussion