--- title: "Understanding roles and permissions in Engage CMS" url: "https://smartguides.zetadisplay.com/en/article/understanding-roles-and-permissions-in-engage-cms" language: "en" last_updated: "2026-09-22T09:35:15.793Z" --- # Understanding roles and permissions in Engage CMS Roles and permissions control what users can access and do in Engage CMS ## **What is a role?** A **role** is a predefined collection of permissions. Roles provide users with a standard level of access based on their responsibilities. For example, the **Publisher** role is intended for users who create, manage, schedule and target playlists. A Publisher can view content in the Library but does not have full Library management access. ## **What is a permission?** A **permission** is an individual capability that allows a user to perform a specific action or access functionality. Examples of permissions include: - View Library content - Create or manage playlists - Schedule playlists - Target playlists - Manage devices - Manage Power Schedules A role contains multiple permissions. ### **Can users have permissions outside their role?** Yes. Authorized ZetaDisplay system administrators can assign individual permissions directly to a user. This means a user's access does not always correspond exactly to one of the predefined roles. Two users with the same role may therefore have different access. A user may also have a combination of permissions that does not correspond to any predefined role. ## **What determines what a user can access?** A user's available functionality can depend on: - Their assigned role - Individually assigned permissions - Workspace settings - Enabled product features - Product licenses - Customer-specific configuration - Access to the Admin Panel A role should therefore be treated as a standard access profile, not a guarantee of the exact functionality available to an individual user. ## **Important guidance when answering permission questions** Do not assume that a user's role tells you exactly what the user can access. If the user's individual permissions are not available, explain what access is normally associated with a role or feature, but do not claim that the user personally has or does not have a specific permission. For example: If a user asks, **"What can a Publisher do?"**, explain the standard Publisher access described below. If a user asks, **"Can I create playlists?"**, the answer depends on the user's individual permissions. If those permissions are unavailable, explain that creating playlists normally requires playlist management access. If a user asks, **"Why can't I see this feature?"**, explain the access normally required for that functionality. Access may also depend on workspace configuration, enabled features or licenses. ## **Engage CMS roles** Engage CMS includes the following predefined roles: - Monitoring - Player Support - Content Creator - Publisher - Broadcaster - Administrator These roles represent standard access profiles. Individual users may have additional or different permissions. ### **Monitoring** **What is the Monitoring role?** The **Monitoring** role is intended for users who monitor an Engage CMS workspace, its content and its devices. Monitoring users primarily have view access. **What can a Monitoring user normally do?** A Monitoring user can normally: - View Library content - View playlists - View devices and their status - View Power Schedules - Monitor workspace activity A Monitoring user does not normally manage Library content, playlists, devices or users. **Standard Monitoring access** **Library:** View **Playlists:** View **Devices:** View **Power Schedules:** View **User management:** No access ### **Player Support** **What is the Player Support role?** The **Player Support** role is intended for users responsible for monitoring, troubleshooting and supporting devices. It provides device management and diagnostic capabilities without providing content or playlist management access. **What can a Player Support user normally do?** A Player Support user can normally: - View Library content - View playlists - Monitor devices - Troubleshoot devices - Edit supported device configuration - Organize devices into groups - Capture device screenshots - Perform supported remote device actions - Reboot devices where the functionality is available - Force device updates where the functionality is available - Manage Power Schedules Player Support users do not normally manage Library content, playlists or users. **Standard Player Support access** **Library:** View **Playlists:** View **Devices:** Manage **Power Schedules:** Manage **User management:** No access ### **Content Creator** **What is the Content Creator role?** The **Content Creator** role is intended for users responsible for creating, uploading, organizing and maintaining content in the Library. Content Creators prepare content for use in playlists but do not normally manage playlist distribution. **What can a Content Creator normally do?** A Content Creator can normally: - Upload content to the Library - Create content - Edit Library content - Delete Library content - Organize Library content into folders - Share content folders where supported - Create content using available templates - Prepare content for use in playlists - View playlists - View devices - View Power Schedules Content Creators do not normally manage playlists, devices or users. **Standard Content Creator access** **Library:** Manage **Playlists:** View **Devices:** View **Power Schedules:** View **User management:** No access ### **Publisher** **What is the Publisher role?** The **Publisher** role is intended for users responsible for creating, managing and distributing playlists. Publishers use existing Library content to build playlists and distribute them to screens and locations. **What can a Publisher normally do?** A Publisher can normally: - View Library content - Create playlists - Edit and manage playlists - Organize playlists into folders - Schedule playlists - Target playlists to screens and locations - View device information needed for playlist distribution - Verify content displayed on devices - Perform selected device actions where permitted - View Power Schedules Publishers do not normally manage Library content, Power Schedules or users. Their device access is limited to the functionality required for playlist distribution and supported device actions. **Standard Publisher access** **Library:** View **Playlists:** Manage **Devices:** Limited management access **Power Schedules:** View **User management:** No access ### **Broadcaster** **What is the Broadcaster role?** The **Broadcaster** role combines content creation and playlist management. It is intended for users responsible for the complete content workflow, from preparing content in the Library to creating, scheduling and distributing playlists. **What can a Broadcaster normally do?** A Broadcaster can normally: - Upload and create Library content - Edit and manage Library content - Organize Library content into folders - Create playlists - Edit and manage playlists - Organize playlists into folders - Schedule playlists - Target playlists to screens and locations - View device information - Verify content displayed on devices - Perform selected device actions where permitted - Manage Power Schedules Broadcasters do not normally manage users. Their device access is limited compared with the full device management access available to Player Support and Administrator users. **Standard Broadcaster access** **Library:** Manage **Playlists:** Manage **Devices:** Limited management access **Power Schedules:** Manage **User management:** No access ### **Administrator** **What is the Administrator role?** The **Administrator** role provides broad access to Engage CMS. It is intended for users responsible for managing the workspace, content, playlists, devices and configuration. **What can an Administrator normally do?** An Administrator can normally: - Manage Library content - Manage templates - Create and manage playlists - Schedule and target playlists - Monitor and manage devices - Manage Power Schedules - Perform supported remote device actions - Review user activity - Oversee workspace configuration and access Some administrative functionality, including user management, is performed through the **Admin Panel**. Access to these functions requires the appropriate Admin Panel access in addition to the Engage CMS Administrator role. **Standard Administrator access** **Library:** Manage **Playlists:** Manage **Devices:** Manage **Power Schedules:** Manage **User management:** Manage when the user also has the required Admin Panel access ## **Common roles and permissions questions** **What role do I have?** A user's assigned role and individual permissions determine their access. If the user's account information is not available, their specific role or permissions cannot be determined from general product knowledge. **What permissions do I have?** Permissions are assigned to individual user accounts. If the user's individual permission information is not available, do not assume their permissions based only on what they can or cannot see. **Why can't I access a feature?** Access to a feature may depend on: - The user's role - Individual permissions - Workspace settings - Enabled product features - Product licenses - Customer-specific configuration - Admin Panel access If the user's individual permissions are unavailable, explain the access normally required for the requested functionality rather than stating which permission the user personally has or is missing. **Can two users with the same role have different access?** Yes. Individual permissions can be assigned in addition to predefined roles. Workspace configuration, enabled features and licenses can also affect available functionality. Two users with the same predefined role may therefore have different access. **I don't have a role. Can I still have access?** Yes. Authorized ZetaDisplay system administrators can assign individual permissions directly to a user without assigning a predefined role. A user can therefore have access that does not correspond directly to one of the standard role profiles. **Who can change my permissions?** Permissions and access are managed by authorized administrators. If additional access is required, contact the administrator responsible for managing access within your organization.