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The Right Way to Grant Board Access (And What to Avoid)

Board, Manager, and Staff access should always be created as separate logins — not tied to a member’s household account.

Board, Manager, and Staff access should always be a separate admin login, not a role added to a member's household account. This article explains why, and how to fix it if it was already done the wrong way.

Recommendation: Board, Manager, and Staff level access should be independent of the membership account.

The Recommended Way

  • Go to Admin > Users.

  • Click Add User.

  • Enter a Username, Display name, optional Email, and Password, and pick the Role (for example, Board).

  • Give this login only to the board member. Their family keeps using the normal membership account.

What to Avoid: Board Access on a Membership Account

  • It is possible to give board access through the membership account by setting its User role to Board (for example, when adding the account). We do NOT recommend it.

  • These users are still listed on Admin > Users, but their login is attached to a membership account. In the example below, Jane Jetson's member account was changed to have Board access.

Why This Causes Problems

  • The whole family gets admin access. The membership login is shared by the household (kids, spouse, nanny) to buy guest passes, pay bills, or make reservations. With a Board role on it, everyone using that login can view and change your club's data, including changes that can't be undone.

  • Removing access later is easy to get wrong. When the board member leaves, the next admin may not know their login is also the family's membership login.

Note: On Admin > Users, archiving a user who is attached to a membership account now shows a Revert to member? warning. Confirming with Revert to member changes their role back to member and removes them from the admin users list. It does not deactivate the membership account.

The Solution

If you find an account that was given board access this way, undo it so the membership account stays intact:

  1. Go to Admin > Users and find the board member.

  2. Click the archive icon on their row and confirm Revert to member. Or click edit, change Role to Member, and click Save.

  3. Still on Admin > Users, click Add User and create a separate login for the board member with the Board role.

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