Applicable to: All Admins
Applicable to: Beta users in Rugby Canada and Basketball England
Application(s): Admin Portal > My Organisation > Admins
This article will cover the following:
- What Limited Access is and who it's for
- Giving an admin Limited Access to Refunds
- What a Limited Access admin can and can't do
- Checking your own roles and access
Related articles:
Overview
Admin access in PlayHQ has always been all-or-nothing: an admin either has everything your organisation can do in the Admin Portal, or they're not an admin at all. That meant handing full access to a treasurer, a fixtures volunteer, or anyone who only needed to do one thing.
You can now give an admin Limited Access instead of full access. When you invite or edit an admin, Limited Access opens a short list of areas you can switch on for that person. In this first release, that area is Refunds — more areas (reports, posts, shop, website, and eventually competitions and programs) are coming in later releases.
Two things are permanently switched off for every Limited Access admin and can't be turned on: they can never invite, edit or remove other admins, and they can never reach organisation settings, payment details or vouchers.
Nothing changes for admins you've already set up. Every existing Full Access, Club, Affiliate or Electronic Scorer account keeps exactly the access it has today — Limited Access is simply a new option from now on.
⚠️ Important: This isn't available to every organisation yet
Limited Access is being switched on tenant by tenant. If you don't see Limited Access as an option when inviting or editing an admin, it isn't enabled for your organisation yet.
What you'll need before starting
Required information
Before you begin, make sure you have:
- Full Access, Affiliate or Club Admin access yourself — a Limited Access admin can never invite or edit another admin, so this option won't be available to them
- The name or PlayHQ profile of the person you're inviting or editing
- Confirmation that your organisation is on a tenant where Limited Access is enabled
💡 Tip: A refunds-only admin also needs Participant Search access
Processing a refund starts from a participant's profile, so someone with only the Refunds toggle switched on will also need access to Participant Search to actually find and refund an invoice. If they're missing that, point them there rather than assuming Refunds alone is enough.
Giving an admin Limited Access to Refunds
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Open Admin Management
Go to Admin Portal > [Navigation path TBC] and choose to invite a new admin, or edit an existing one.
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Choose Limited Access
Select Limited Access as the admin's role, instead of Full Access.
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Switch on Refunds
Turn on the Refunds toggle for this admin. This is the only area you can control in this first release — everything else remains visible to them (see the warning below).
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Save
Save the admin. They'll now be able to process refunds, and nothing else changes for them beyond what Limited Access permanently restricts.
⚠️ Important: Switching on Refunds doesn't lock down the rest of the portal yet
In this first release, All Other Areas is shown in the invite/edit screen but locked on — a Limited Access admin with Refunds switched on can still see and reach the rest of the Admin Portal. Limited Access currently takes away the ability to manage admins and organisation settings, and lets you choose to also restrict Refunds; it isn't yet a way to give someone exactly one job and nothing else. That's coming in a later release.
What a Limited Access admin can and can't do
| Area | Limited Access admin |
|---|---|
| Processing refunds | Can, if you've switched the Refunds toggle on for them |
| Inviting, editing or removing other admins | Can never do this — permanently off, cannot be switched on |
| Organisation settings, payment details and vouchers | Can never reach these — permanently off, cannot be switched on |
| Everything else in the Admin Portal (until a later release) | Can still see and reach it in this first release |
If a Limited Access admin tries to reach something they don't have — by following an old link or a bookmark, for example — they'll see a plain message telling them to ask their administrator for access, rather than an error.
This isn't the right option for everyone
Limited Access is for admin accounts specifically. It's not how you give access to:
- Coaches, team managers and captains — they get team access through the participant portal (My Teams), not an admin account. See Giving a coach or team manager access to your team.
- Electronic scorers — unaffected by this change; e-scoring remains its own role.
- Board members or auditors who only need to view things — a true read-only role doesn't exist yet. If a customer asks for this, log it with your sport's support team.
Checking your own roles and access
Every admin can now see their own roles and access from their My Account page — useful if a volunteer wants to check what they've been given at an organisation without having to ask.
Frequently asked questions
Did anything change for our existing admins?
No. Every existing admin kept exactly the access they had. Limited Access is a new option when you invite or edit an admin — nothing was migrated or downgraded.
Can I give someone access to just one thing?
In this first release, yes for Refunds. Choose Limited Access when inviting an admin and switch Refunds on. More areas — competitions, reports, content and others — are coming in later releases.
Why can my Limited Access admin still see other parts of the portal?
In this first release only Refunds is controllable; other areas remain visible. Switching everything else off is a later release — see the warning above.
Can a Limited Access admin add another admin?
No, never. Managing admins and organisation settings are permanently unavailable to Limited Access and can't be switched on.
Is this how I give a coach or team manager access?
No. Coaches, team managers and captains get team access through the participant portal (My Teams), not an admin account. Your association or club can grant that team by team.
Can I give a board member view-only access?
Not yet. A read-only role is different to Limited Access and isn't available yet — worth logging the request with your sport's support team.
Why is this only available to some organisations?
Limited Access is being switched on tenant by tenant, starting with Cricket Australia. If you don't see it yet, it isn't enabled for your organisation — check with your sport's support team for timing.
Who can set an admin's access level?
Full Access, Affiliate and Club Admins can invite and edit other admins, including setting them to Limited Access. A Limited Access admin can never do this themselves.