Analytics Permissions and Folder Management

How permissions work in Fountain Analytics, including access levels, folder visibility, and sharing dashboards and reports.

Analytics Permissions Overview

Access to Fountain Analytics is controlled by two independent permission types:

1. Analytics Access Level: Whether someone can access Analytics, and what they can do (view-only or create reports)

2. Content Access Level: What specific documents and folders they can see and edit

These permissions work together to control the Analytics experience.

Key Differences Between Access Levels

Analytics Access Level:

• Set in: Fountain's Roles & Permissions (Settings > Roles & Permissions > Platform > Analytics)
• Set by: Fountain administrators
• Controls: Whether users can access Analytics and what they can do (view vs. create)
• Scope: Platform-wide
• Options: No Access, View-Only, Custom Reporting

Content Access Level:

• Set in: Analytics (when sharing documents/folders)
• Set by: Document/folder owners or managers
• Controls: What specific documents and folders users can see and edit
• Scope: Per document or folder
• Options: No Access, Viewer, Editor, Manager

Think of it this way: Analytics Access Level is your "key to the building" (set by Fountain admin), while Content Access Level is your "key to specific rooms" (set by content owners within Analytics).

Analytics Access Level

Analytics Access Level determines whether users can access Analytics at all, and if so, what they can do. This permission is set in Fountain's Roles & Permissions settings (not within Analytics itself).

Analytics Access Level is controlled by Fountain administrators in the platform's Roles & Permissions settings under Platform > Analytics. This is separate from Content Access Level, which is set within Analytics when sharing specific documents.

Where Analytics Access is Set

Fountain administrators set Analytics Access Level in Settings > Roles & Permissions > [Role] > Platform > Analytics:

• Can view analytics: Grants View-Only access
• Can create custom analytics reports: Grants Custom Reporting access

You can only access Analytics data for Fountain products you have permissions to use. If you don't have access to a product (like Hire or I-9 Center) in Fountain, you won't see data for that product in Analytics.

Default Analytics Access by Fountain Role

For more information about Fountain roles, see the Roles and Permissions article.

Analytics Access Levels

No Analytics Access

Users cannot access the Analytics tab. Analytics is not available.

How to get access: Contact a Fountain administrator to enable "Can view analytics" in the role's permissions.

View-Only

Users can access Analytics and view dashboards that have been shared with them.

Capabilities:

• View published dashboards
• Apply filters to dashboards
• Drill into data to see details
• Download data (if enabled on the dashboard)
• Schedule deliveries (if enabled on the dashboard)

Restrictions:

• Cannot create new workbooks or dashboards
• Cannot edit existing content
• Cannot build custom queries or analyses

Best for: Stakeholders, executives, team members who need to view metrics but not create reports

Custom Reporting

Users can access Analytics, view content, AND create their own analyses and dashboards.

Capabilities:

• Everything View-Only users can do, plus:
• Create new workbooks and build custom queries
• Create visualizations and charts
• Save documents to personal folders
• Share content with others
• Build custom dashboards

Best for: Analysts, managers, power users who need to create custom reports

To request a change to your Analytics Access Level, contact your Fountain administrator. They control these permissions through Settings > Roles & Permissions in the Fountain platform.

Content Access Level

Content Access Level controls what specific documents and folders you can see and edit within Analytics. This permission is set within Analytics when document or folder owners share content with you.

To request a change to Analytics Access Level, contact a Fountain administrator. They control these permissions through Settings > Roles & Permissions in the Fountain platform.

Documents and Folders

Documents are the main content containers in Analytics. Each document contains:

• Workbook: Where queries, analyses, and visualizations are built (one or more tabs)
• Dashboard: The presentation layer that displays workbook tabs as interactive tiles

Folders provide organization for documents:

• Can contain documents and subfolders
• Support up to 7 levels of nesting
• Control access permissions - contents inherit the parent folder's access level

Content Access Levels

When a user shares a document or folder, they assign one of these access levels:

No Access

Users cannot see this document or folder. It's completely hidden.

Viewer

Users can view the document or folder contents but cannot edit.

Capabilities:

• View published dashboards
• Apply filters and drill into data
• Download and schedule (if enabled)

Best for: Team members who need to see reports but not modify them

Editor

Users can view and edit the document or folder contents.

Capabilities:

• Everything Viewers can do, plus:
• Edit dashboard layout and filters
• Modify workbook queries and visualizations
• Create new tabs in the workbook
• Save changes to the document

Requirements: Users must have Custom Reporting (Analytics Access Level) to use Editor permissions. With only View-Only Analytics Access, users can only view the content even with Editor Content Access.

Best for: Report creators and analysts who maintain team content

Manager

Users have full control over the document or folder contents, including permission management.

Capabilities:

• Everything Editors can do, plus:
• Grant access to other users
• Change Content Access Levels for others
• Delete the document
• Move the document to different folders

Requirements: Users must have Custom Reporting (Analytics Access Level) to create or edit content. Manager (Content Access Level) alone only grants the ability to manage permissions.

Best for: Team leads, department managers who control team access

How Analytics and Content Access Work Together

Both access levels must align for users to perform certain actions. Users need BOTH the right Analytics Access Level AND the right Content Access Level.

Permission Matrix

How the two access levels combine:

Common Permission Combinations

Scenario 1: View-Only User

• Analytics Access: View-Only
• Content Access: Viewer (for Team Dashboards folder)
• Can: View Team Dashboards, apply filters, drill into data
• Cannot: Create or edit any content

Scenario 2: Analyst with Viewer Content Access

• Analytics Access: Custom Reporting
• Content Access: Viewer (for Team Dashboards folder)
• Can: Create documents in My documents, view Team Dashboards, share from My documents
• Cannot: Edit documents in Team Dashboards folder

Scenario 3: Team Report Creator

• Analytics Access: Custom Reporting
• Content Access: Editor (for Team Dashboards folder)
• Can: Create documents in My documents, edit documents in Team Dashboards, save new documents to Team Dashboards
• Cannot: Manage who has access to Team Dashboards folder

Scenario 4: Content Manager (View-Only)

• Analytics Access: View-Only
• Content Access: Manager (for Team Dashboards folder)
• Can: View all content, manage who has access to documents
• Cannot: Create or edit any content (needs Custom Reporting Analytics Access)

Scenario 5: Full Access

• Analytics Access: Custom Reporting
• Content Access: Manager (for Team Dashboards folder)
• Can: Everything - view, create, edit, manage access

The most common setup for report creators is Custom Reporting (Analytics Access) + Editor (Content Access). This allows them to create and maintain team reports without managing permissions.

How Folder Visibility Works

Folder Name Visibility Rule

Important: Folder names are ALWAYS visible if they contain content users have access to, even if users don't have access to the folder itself.

Example scenario:

A user has Editor Content Access to a dashboard called "Sales Performance" located at:

Hub → Account Name → Department Analytics → Sales Performance

What the user sees:

• ✅ Account Name (folder name visible for navigation)
• ✅ Department Analytics (folder name visible for navigation)
• ✅ Sales Performance (full access - can view and edit)

What the user doesn't see:

• ❌ Other documents in "Account Name" folder
• ❌ Other documents in "Department Analytics" folder
• ❌ Folders that don't lead to accessible content

Folder names serve as navigation breadcrumbs. Users see the full path to their content, but other items in those folders remain completely hidden unless they have explicit access.

Analytics Locations

When users open Analytics, several sections appear in the left navigation:

Personal Section

Favorites

• Documents users have starred for quick access
• Works like bookmarks
• Content stays in its original location

My documents

• Personal workspace for individual users
• Only the owner can see content here (unless explicitly shared)
• Requires Custom Reporting (Analytics Access) to create content
• Users can share documents from My documents with specific colleagues

Use My documents to build and refine reports before sharing them with teams. Once approved, documents can be moved or copied to shared folders with Editor Content Access to those folders.

Shared Section

Hub

• Organization's main shared folder
• Contains Standard Dashboards (available to everyone with Analytics Access)
• May contain additional shared content based on Content Access permissions

Shared with me

• Documents others have shared directly
• Includes content from other users' personal folders that they've explicitly shared

Other Section

All

• View all documents with appropriate access, regardless of location

My activity

• Recent Analytics activity for the user
• Includes both saved and unsaved work

Trash

• Deleted content that can be restored
• Only shows items deleted from folders where the user has Manager Content Access

Permission Inheritance

Content inside folders inherits the parent folder's Content Access Level.

How Inheritance Works

Example:

Sales Folder (Editor Content Access)   └── Q4 Reports Subfolder (inherits Editor)        └── Dashboard A (inherits Editor)

Users have Editor Content Access to everything in this structure because the parent folder grants Editor access.

Access can be increased at lower levels:

Regional Reports (Viewer Content Access)   └── West Region (Editor Content Access)

Even with Viewer access to "Regional Reports," users can have Editor access to "West Region" inside it.

Share Folder Content

Create Folders

1. Navigate to My documents or a shared folder (requires Editor or Manager Content Access)
2. Click Add folder
3. Name the folder
4. Click Save

Folder Nesting Limits

Folders can be nested up to 7 levels deep:

Shared (root) └── Folder 1     └── Folder 2         └── Folder 3             └── Folder 4                 └── Folder 5                     └── Folder 6                         └── Folder 7 (nesting limit)

Move Documents Between Folders

1. Open the document or find it in a folder list
2. Click the three dots (⋮) menu
3. Select Move
4. Choose the destination folder
5. Click Save

Users must have Editor or Manager Content Access in both the source and destination folders to move documents.

Share Documents

Users can share documents with team members to collaborate and distribute insights.

Share a Document

1. Open the document
2. Click the Share button in the top right
3. Search for users or groups
4. Select a Content Access Level for them:
   • Viewer: Can view but not edit
   • Editor: Can view and edit (requires Custom Reporting Analytics Access)
   • Manager: Can view, edit, and share with others (requires Custom Reporting Analytics Access)
5. Click Share

The document appears in the recipient's "Shared with me" section.

Share from My Documents

Users can share documents directly from their personal folder:

1. Create and refine the document in My documents
2. Click Share
3. Select users and their Content Access Level
4. Click Share

The document stays in My documents but appears in recipients' "Shared with me."

Move Documents to Shared Folders

To publish a document from My documents to a shared folder:

1. Open the document
2. Click File > Move or Save As
3. Choose the destination shared folder (requires Editor or Manager Content Access)
4. Click Save

To move content to a shared folder, users need both Custom Reporting (Analytics Access) and Editor or Manager (Content Access) for that folder.