This guide explains how permissions work in Fountain Analytics, including access control, content organization, and sharing documents with team members.
Analytics Permissions Overview
Access to Fountain Analytics is controlled by two independent permission types:
Analytics Access Level: Whether someone can access Analytics, and what they can do (view-only or create reports)
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
Role | Access Level |
Administrator | Custom Reporting |
Standard | View-Only |
Restricted | View-Only |
Custom | Variable |
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:
What You Want To Do | Required Analytics Access | Required Content Access |
View a shared dashboard | View-Only or Custom Reporting | Viewer, Editor, or Manager |
Create documents in My documents | Custom Reporting | N/A (always allowed) |
Edit a shared document | Custom Reporting | Editor or Manager |
Share documents from My documents | View-Only or Custom Reporting | N/A (always allowed) |
Manage who has access to a document | View-Only or Custom Reporting | N/A (always allowed) |
Common Permission Combinations
Scenario 1: View-Only User
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
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
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)
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
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
Navigate to My documents or a shared folder (requires Editor or Manager Content Access)
Click Add folder
Name the folder
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
Open the document or find it in a folder list
Click the three dots (⋮) menu
Select Move
Choose the destination folder
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
Open the document
Click the Share button in the top right
Search for users or groups
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)
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:
Create and refine the document in My documents
Click Share
Select users and their Content Access Level
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:
Open the document
Click File > Move or Save As
Choose the destination shared folder (requires Editor or Manager Content Access)
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.