User Roles and Rights
How system roles and space roles combine to define what each person can do.
Updated on 7 October 2026
Elium gives each person two kinds of roles:
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A system role, for the whole platform.
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A space role, in each space where they are a member.
The combination of the two roles defines what the person can do.
System roles
| Role | Rights |
|---|---|
| Guest | Sees only the spaces where they are a member. Has no personal space. |
| Contributor | The usual role. Has a personal space. Can open the public spaces, even without being a member, and see all the profiles of the platform. |
| Coordinator | The same rights as a contributor. Also manages the categories and the tags, sees all the analytics of the platform, creates and archives urgent notifications, promotes articles on the homepage and edits the homepage sidebar. |
| Administrator | Manages the whole platform: members, teams, spaces, groups of spaces, categories, tags and settings. Can modify all the profiles. |
You choose the system role when you add a member. To change it, see Modifying users.
Space roles
| Role | Rights in the space |
|---|---|
| Guest | Reads, comments on and downloads content. |
| Contributor | Adds and edits content, and tags it. |
| Coordinator | The same rights as a contributor. Also manages all the content of the space, including the content of other people: for example, deletes articles and comments of others. Can mention the space or a team. |
| Administrator | The same rights as a coordinator. Also manages the settings, the tabs and the members of the space. |
Rights of all users
Whatever their roles, all users can:
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Like and comment on articles, and edit or delete their own comments.
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Browse and search the knowledge base.
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Save a search and create alerts.
Examples of combinations
| System role | Role in space A | Result | Typical use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Guest | Guest | No personal space. Sees only the spaces they were added to. Can only read in space A, and cannot tag. | External people, suppliers and trainees with a very limited access. |
| B | Guest | Contributor | No personal space. Sees only the spaces they were added to. Can add content and tag in space A. | People with limited rights, except in one space. |
| C | Contributor | Guest | Has a personal space and opens the public spaces. Can only read in space A. | Spaces where only a few people manage the content. |
| D | Contributor | Contributor | Opens the public spaces and adds content in space A. | Most users. |
| E | Contributor | Coordinator | Also mentions the space or a team, and deletes the articles and comments of others in space A. | People who moderate a space. |
| F | Contributor | Administrator | Also manages the members, the tabs and the settings of space A. | People who manage a space. |