A NationBuilder Permission Set dictates what a group of Control Panel users can and can’t do within your Nation (and FieldEdge). In this article, you will learn the different Permission Set configurations we recommend based on your NationBuilder plan, use-case, and requirements.

To ensure your (non-Admin) users can access the FieldEdge app, we need to ensure your Permission Sets meet the minimum configuration requirements.

Creating/Modifying Your Permission Sets

NationBuilder has two default Permission sets: Admin and Staffer. By default, a user with the Admin set will have access to FieldEdge however a user with the Staffer Set will not.

The recommended permission set configuration is different depending on what NationBuilder Plan your organization is on:

Pro or Enterprise Plan

You have the ability to create custom Permission Sets, so we recommend you use the following configuration:

For canvassers: create a new Permission Set called "Canvasser"
For (non-Admin) staff: modify the existing "Staffer" Permission Set

This is just a simple recommendation and you do have the option to create additional Permission Sets to fit your unique situation (such as Paid vs Volunteer canvassers). If you would like any further advice, feel free to reach out.

Starter Plan

You do not have the ability to create custom Permission Sets, so we recommend adjusting the Staffer permission set to allow FieldEdge access for non-Admin users.

The minimum Permission Set requirements

There are 3 minimum requirements/adjustments required for a Permission Set to be suitable for use with FieldEdge:

The People dropdown must be set to Everyone or Assigned (more on this below)
Under the API heading, Sign into apps must be ticked
Under the Website heading, Create and edit pages (more on this below)

Important note about using the "Create and edit pages" permission:

NationBuilder explains this permission as so:

"The ability to create and edit new website pages. Includes the ability to edit pages for which you are the author. Does not include the ability to publish pages or edit pages written by control panel users."

What does this mean? A user with this permission could log in to the NationBuilder website and create a new page. However, this page couldn't be published on your website. If your NationBuilder website happens to have Public Profiles, they could edit other people's profiles. We consider this a very low-risk trade-off.

Restricting access (for volunteers and other users)

NOTE: In addition to the option below, you can also use our App Customization feature to restrict access to certain data which may be a more suitable way to implement data security.

NOTE: While this method provides extra security, it adds a lot of overhead and other complexities to managing lists and access to data.

If you plan to have casual volunteers use FieldEdge and wish to restrict access to data, you can customize a Permission Set to turn off access to NationBuilder on the web and only show the people in your nation who are assigned to them (they are the point person).

Head to the Permission Set you are editing, find the "People" dropdown (right at the top), and switch it to “Assigned”. Now, untick all other options aside from the minimum Permission Set requirements mentioned above.

Important notes about using the "Assigned" feature:

To make people visible in FieldEdge (and NationBuilder), you’ll need to ensure that the user is set as the point person for each person on their list. The easiest way to do this is to do a batch update on the list – learn more about that here.
While a list can be shared with a whole permission set (a group of people), each person on a list can only be assigned a single point person. This means that if using the "Assigned" feature, you will need to create a different list for each user. That list can however contain the same people.