Permissions, features & visibility
How role permissions, feature packages, and institution settings combine to control which OrgHub pages and sections each person can see — in plain language for university staff.
OrgHub shows a different set of pages to each person depending on two independent gates: the permissions attached to their role, and the feature packages enabled for the institution. A page is visible only when both conditions are met. Some capabilities add a third gate — an institution setting that must be switched on even when the package is present.
This model is foundational for FuxamCMS. If you misunderstand it, every other OrgHub chapter will feel inconsistent: colleagues appear to have “secret” menus, Database vanishes for an entire campus, or Exam Center shows for one role and not another for reasons that look like bugs. They are usually correct behavior.
Why it matters
Universities separate what the institution bought and enabled from what each job function may do. Feature packages answer the first question; role permissions answer the second. Keeping those gates separate means:
- An institution can license Planning without giving every staff member planning access.
- A role can include exam permissions without surfacing Exam Center before the institution is ready to turn it on.
- Auditors and part-time staff can receive read-only slices of OrgHub without seeing Applications, Statistics, or Database.
Design roles and enable features deliberately. Visibility is the product of policy, not of personal bookmarks. For a catalog of where administrators flip these switches, see Institution settings overview.
How it fits
Permissions are configured in Settings → Roles & Permissions (documented under Base). Feature packages are contractual and institution-wide. Institution settings live under Settings (for example Exam Center, Report, Application Management). OrgHub merely evaluates all three when building the sidebar.
Related reading: OrgHub basics, Institution settings overview, Roles and permissions, and the FuxamCMS overview.
Key concepts
| Term | Meaning in plain language |
|---|---|
| Permission | A fine-grained right on a role — for example, permission to view curricula. Missing permission → page hidden, no error. |
| Role | Named set of permissions assigned to people. Effective access is the combination of permissions in the assigned role (plus any scoped assignments). |
| Feature package | Contract-level capability bundle (for example, Exam Management). Missing package → section absent for everyone. |
| Institution setting | Admin switch that further enables a packaged feature (Exam Center, Statistics / Report, Application Management, and similar). |
| Sidebar group | Management, Exam Center, Statistics Center, or Database. Hidden entirely when it has no permitted, feature-enabled children. |
| Access packages | Bundled permission sets linked to Fuxam product packages, managed alongside roles in Settings. |
| User Information | Per-role choices for which profile tabs and home sections appear — separate from OrgHub sidebar permissions. |
Role permissions
Every OrgHub page or section requires at least one permission. If your role does not have the required permission, the page is hidden — you will not see an error, it simply does not appear in the sidebar.
What staff can see and do (by sidebar item)
| Sidebar item | What the role typically needs |
|---|---|
| Users | Permission to view users and user groups |
| Courses | Permission to view course management and course structure |
| Planning | Permission to view course modules (Planning feature required) |
| Programs | Permission to view study programs (institution-wide or individual) |
| Curricula | Permission to view curricula (or an individual curriculum) |
| Modules | Permission to view course modules (or an individual module) |
| Rooms | Permission to view and update rooms |
| Chronology | Permission to view academic terms |
| My Exams | Permission to view exams (or an individual exam) |
| Exam Types | Permission to view exam types |
| University Statistics | Permission to view statistics |
| Your Reports | Permission to view reports |
| Applications | Permission related to application programs (Apply must be enabled) |
Organization-wide vs limited scope
Some rights apply across the whole institution (for example, view all users). Others only apply when the role is assigned on a specific course, cohort, or program. That is why two coordinators can both “have Programs access” yet see different program lists — one may hold institution-wide view rights, the other only scoped access to assigned intakes.
Prefer institution-wide view permissions for coordinators who must browse across programs, and scoped assignments when access should stay limited to assigned entities.
How to review your own access
You typically cannot expand your own OrgHub visibility without an administrator. When something is missing:
Confirm with a colleague who should have the same job function whether they see the page. If they do not either, suspect a feature package or institution setting.
If they do see it, ask an administrator to open Settings → Roles & Permissions, select your role, and check the Permissions tab for the rights in the table above.
After permissions are saved, reopen OrgHub (a full page refresh can help if the sidebar still looks unchanged).
Feature packages
Some OrgHub sections are only available when the corresponding feature package is enabled for your institution. Feature packages are agreed at the contract level between your institution and Fuxam.
| OrgHub section / page | Feature your institution needs |
|---|---|
| Planning | Planning |
| Programs (study programs and cohorts) | Study Programs and Cohorts |
| Modules and Curricula | Modules and Curricula |
| Rooms | Room Management |
| Chronology | Planning |
| Exam Center | Exam Management |
| Exam Types | Exam Types |
| Statistics Center | Statistics Center |
| Applications | Application Management (Fuxam Apply) |
Extended CMS areas documented elsewhere in this handbook follow the same idea — package plus settings and permissions — even when they are not permanent peers of the four main sidebar groups:
| Area | What it means for staff | Handbook home |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance (GKV) | Krankenkasse reporting when the Health Insurance capability is available and fully set up | Health insurance |
| Smart documents | PDF templates and generated certificates or contracts | Smart documents |
| Time tracking | Working-hours logs, models, and exports | Time tracking |
Institution settings
Some features are further gated by an institution-level switch — even when the feature package is active, an administrator must explicitly enable the feature in institution settings. Until the setting is on, expect the section to stay hidden for all roles, regardless of permissions.
| Feature | What administrators switch on |
|---|---|
| Exam Center | Exam Center enabled for the institution |
| Statistics Center | Report under Settings → Report (and Statistics Engine configuration for University Statistics) |
| Applications | Application Management under Settings → OrgHub → Application Management |
Optional areas often need both a package and a completed setup:
| Area | Beyond the package |
|---|---|
| Time tracking | Enable time tracking under Settings → Time Tracking |
| Health insurance | Complete and save Settings → Krankenkassen Integration so the integration is fully set up and switched on |
| Smart documents | Templates under Settings → Documents, plus role tab visibility |
Full catalog: Institution settings overview.
How the sidebar is built
When you open OrgHub, Fuxam evaluates each sidebar group and item against your role’s permissions and the institution’s active features and settings. Groups that have no permitted children are hidden entirely. Individual items within a visible group are hidden if the permission or feature check fails for that item alone.
This means two administrators at the same institution may see different sidebars if their roles have different permissions — and all users at an institution without FuxamCMS packages will see only the core Management items (Users and Courses), not the Database or Planning sections.
Decision guide when something is missing
| What is missing | Check first | Then check |
|---|---|---|
| Entire Exam Center / Statistics Center / Applications | Feature package + institution setting | Role permissions for exams, reporting, or applications |
| Entire Database group | Modules and Curricula, Room Management, and Planning packages | Permissions to view curricula, modules, rooms, and terms |
| Planning or Programs only | Planning or Study Programs and Cohorts package | Permission to view course modules / study programs |
| Single page inside a visible group | That page’s permission row in the table above | Whether the item needs a package of its own (for example, Exam Types) |
| OrgHub entry itself | Any OrgHub-related permission on the role | Account active and correct institution selected |
| Profile tab (Documents, Time Tracking, and similar) | Feature package + institution setup | Role User Information tab visibility |
Favorites
Regardless of which pages are in your sidebar, you can pin any visible OrgHub page to your Favorites for quick access. Select the star icon next to a page title in the sidebar to add it. Favorited pages appear at the top of the sidebar above the standard navigation groups.
Favorites never bypass permissions, feature packages, or institution settings. They are shortcuts only.
Best practices
- Document a role matrix. List job functions against the sidebar items above before creating roles in Settings — then assign the minimum permissions that match.
- Separate “can run exams” from “Exam Center is live”. Grant exam permissions when staff are trained; flip the institution Exam Center setting when the process is ready for production use.
- Expect core-only sidebars on new tenants. Users and Courses without Database or Planning usually means FuxamCMS packages are not yet enabled, not that permissions alone are wrong.
- Re-check after role changes. Sidebar composition is evaluated on access; after editing a role, have the person reopen OrgHub before concluding the change failed.
- Remember profile tabs. Role User Information settings can hide Documents or Time Tracking tabs even when permissions exist.
Common pitfalls
| Pitfall | Why it happens | Avoid by |
|---|---|---|
| Assuming a missing page is a bug | Hidden pages produce no error message | Teach staff the two-gate (or three-gate) model |
| Copying a superadmin role for everyone | Over-grants Statistics, Applications, and Database | Create purpose-built roles |
| Enabling a package but not the setting | Exam Center / Statistics / Applications stay hidden | Complete the institution settings table |
| Comparing sidebars across institutions | Different contracts yield different packages | Compare only within the same institution |
| Ignoring User Information | Permission granted but tab still hidden | Check role profile-tab settings |
FAQ
Why is there no error when I lack access?
OrgHub hides unauthorized or unlicensed pages instead of showing forbidden errors in the sidebar. That keeps navigation clean but means “I cannot find X” is the usual symptom of a permissions, features, or settings gap.
Can one person have two roles and combine permissions?
Effective access follows the permissions on the person’s assigned role (and any scoped assignments) as configured in your institution. Manage role assignment from User Management and permission content from Roles and permissions.
Who can enable a feature package?
Feature packages are agreed at the contract level with Fuxam. Institution administrators or your Fuxam account representative handle enablement — it is not a self-serve sidebar toggle for end users.
Does Statistics Center respect permissions inside the section?
Yes. Statistics Center requires the Statistics Center feature and the Report institution setting. Within the center, individual pages are additionally filtered by your role’s reporting permissions (for example, permission to view statistics vs. permission to view reports).
Where do I learn what each Settings page controls?
See Institution settings overview for a catalog of roles, OrgHub switches, exams, documents, time tracking, health insurance, and course-level settings.
Related topics
Institution settings overview
Catalog of Settings areas administrators manage and what each controls.
Roles and permissions
Create and configure roles, assign permissions, and manage Home Tabs.
OrgHub basics
Tour of the four sidebar sections and what each page is for.
User Management
Create users, invites, groups, and assign roles in Fuxam Base.