Each person with a MyWatchtower account at a property has a property role. The property role sets what the person can do at that property. A person can have a different role at each of their properties. For example, a person can be the Owner of one home and a Resident of a different home.
A property role is not the same as a community role. A community role, such as Admin or Gate Attendant, sets what a staff member can do in the whole community. A property role sets what a person can do at one property.
A household member who has no account is a resident record. A resident record has no property role. On the Residents tab of the property, the row shows No account.
The default property roles
The default property roles are Owner, Manager and Resident. By default:
| Can the role | Owner | Manager | Resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| See the property, its people and its entries | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add, edit and remove guests, vendors and vehicles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manage the kiosk PIN and the QR codes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add and change the photos of the people at the property | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Edit the call order | Yes | Yes | No |
| Add people and edit people | Yes | Yes | No |
| Remove people | Yes | No | No |
| Edit the address, the vacancy dates and the notes | Yes | No | No |
- Owner is the top role of the property. Nobody can change what it can do, so an owner can always manage the property.
- Manager helps the owner manage the property. Your community can change what the role can do, and it can rename the role.
- Resident is for the other people who live at the property. Your community can change what the role can do. The role keeps its name.
Your community can change the Manager and Resident roles and add its own roles. So the roles in your community can be different from this table.
The Tenant role is no longer used. MyWatchtower changed each person who had it to Resident.
See the property roles
This part is for community staff. To open the Roles tab, your role needs User accounts set to Add & edit. By default, only the Admin role has it.
1. Select Settings in the navigation.
2. Select the Roles tab.
3. Go to the Property roles list, under the Staff roles list.
Each row shows the place of the role in the list, the name of the role and the number of its permissions. A default role shows Default.
Open a property role
Select the row of a role. A dialog opens with the name of the role and its permissions. The permissions are in four cards: People & home, Visitors & entry passes, Entry activity and Property management.
To see each permission of a card, select the header of the card. The card opens and shows one row for each area, with the View, Add & edit and Delete columns. The People & home card holds Residents, User accounts, Profile photos, Property details and Contact list. Contact list is the call order of the property.
To change a role, set the level of a card or select the checkboxes. Then select Save changes. The change applies at once to each person who has the role. To close the dialog with no change, select Cancel. For how the cards and the levels work, see *Managing Roles and Permissions*.
You can give a role only the permissions that you hold.
The Owner role
The Owner role opens in view mode. The dialog shows the level of each card and this message: "Owner holds the top position of the property hierarchy. Its permissions are fixed, so an owner can always manage their own property." Select Close.
Create, clone, rename and delete property roles
- Create: select New property role. See *Create a Custom Role*.
- Clone: select the copy button on the row of a role. You can clone Owner too. See *Clone a Role*.
- Rename: you can rename Manager and each custom role. Owner and Resident keep their names. A property role name can have up to 20 characters.
- Delete: you can delete a custom role. You cannot delete a default role. You cannot delete a role while a person has it.
The order of the property roles
The Property roles list is in order of rank. A role higher in the list outranks the roles below it.
- Owner is always at the top. You cannot move it.
- A person can give only a role that is below their own role at the property. An Owner can also give the Owner role.
- A person can change or remove only a person whose role is below their own role. An Owner can also change another Owner.
- You cannot remove yourself from a property. Contact your community office.
Community staff whose role has Residents set to Add & edit can give each property role, Owner included. Other staff cannot give the Owner role.
In a role list, a role that you cannot give shows At or above your role or Only an owner can assign Owner. You cannot select it.
To change the order on a computer, drag the handle of a row. On a phone, use the up and down arrows. Then select Save order. See *Reorder the Role Hierarchy*.
Give a person a property role
On the Residents tab of a property
Owners, Managers and community staff can give property roles on the Residents tab.
To add a person with a property role:
1. Open the property and select the Residents tab.
2. Select Add Resident.
3. Type the email address of the person, then select the Property Role. The default is Resident.
For each step, see *Add a Resident to Your Property*.
To change the property role of a person:
1. On the Residents tab, select the edit button on the row of the person. The Edit User Role dialog opens.
2. Select the new role in Role.
3. To see what the role can do, select What can this role do? A table shows each area with check marks in the View, Edit and Delete columns. Select Close.
4. Select Save. To close the dialog with no change, select Cancel.
If the role of the person is at or above your own role, the dialog shows "This person's property role is at or above your own, so you cannot change it." Save is not available.
In the User List
Community staff can also give property roles in Access > User List:
- Create User: on the Resident User tab, find the address in Search for a property, then select the Property Role.
- Edit User: in Property Action, select Update Property Role. Select the property in Select Property, then select the new Property Role. Then select Save.
See *Managing Community Users and Residents*.
If you do not see a button
A button shows only when your role can use it. If you do not see a button that this article names, ask the Owner of your property or your community office.