New access level in projects: Viewer!

Hello everyone :wave:

I’m thrilled to announce “Viewer,” our new project access level! Alongside existing project access levels like Project Admin, Editor, and Commenter, you can now opt for the “Viewer” access, enabling members to view projects without the ability to comment or edit.


Capture d’écran 2024-01-30 à 12.00.18


Please note this new feature is rolling out gradually in conjunction with Upcoming project permissions update. A small percentage of users got access to it today, but we don’t expect everyone to get access to it until later this spring.

Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments if you have any questions or feedback, we can’t wait to hear what you think!

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hey hey! great update! when it comes to our org - will update you with the usecase!

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Hi Marie,

Thanks for this update. Can you outline the ways in which this view differs from sharing a “view only” link to a project?

Thanks!

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Welcome, @Cassy_Gerber,

Read-only links have many limitations. They are a separate, not-in-Asana display of limited info (task title, assignee, due date, and virtually nothing else, not even description). They operate completely differently to Asana projects and don’t require an Asana login.

The new Viewer access level is an in-Asana experience similar to other access levels and closest to Commenter, just with no ability to modify anything.

Hope that helps,

Larry

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Hello! Would someone with Viewer permissions also need a paid seat in my plan?

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@claudia_ag Yes, they would - viewer is just a project-level setting for a normal Asana user having a seat in your organization.

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When we will have the same feature for portfolios? Like giving access to a portfolio and all the projects there just as viewers.

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Got excited about this feature, but then you mentioned that it takes up a paid seat which is counterproductive in my opinion. It would be great if a ‘viewer’ with same domain registered against the organisation, could access the project without taking up a seat. Guests continue to have more access rights, than people with the same domain as paid member, but dont need full acess to all the features… it’s honestly crazy.

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Great idea @pabloai, I’ll share this with our Product team :slight_smile:

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This is very cool! Any hope for non-Asana users or guests to be added as this new “Viewer” permission? Getting users to adopt Asana to see updates can be difficult. Thanks for the hard work Asana dev team! Keep up the great work and timesaving features!

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Hi @Nathan_Turner2 , welcome the forum! :wave:

Yes and no - the viewer role is just a project-level permission that could be applied to any member or guest that has an Asana account. Non-Asana users would need to be invited to the project first.

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Totally agree! One of the biggest hurdles for adaptation in my org is that often, partners don’t have a way to preview the tool before committing to a paid seat because we can’t invite them as guests. I think enticing them by creating a sort of role that allows some visibility would help gain engagement.

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Hi,Ben

Please read this page regarding your wishes and participate.

What is the use case for Read-Only links?

@Mikayla_Podesta,

The simplest way possible to give someone access to any one of several different project views containing very basic, read-only info. Perhaps for a client to keep track of the progress your work for them.

Thanks,

Larry

This would be great!

Why, oh, why would this be a paid seat? I was excited about this feature until I read the comment about it taking a paid seat…whomp whomp. You really need a similar feature thats not paid. I understand it’s just a permission level within a project, but creating a more global permission for viewing projects without taking up a paid seat would be tremendously helpful to our project teams. The fact that I can give guests nearly full access for free but people within my own organization have to pay full price just to view is a little silly and counterproductive. And yes, I know theres a view only link but its way too limited even from a visual perspective.

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Totally agree Christopher.

We currently are on the Enterprise package and there is just no justification at all to give someone in our organisation a ‘viewer only permission’ because we will have to fork out for a full paid licence to access this, and lots of features they will never use. The best user case is if a Director or Heads of function wants to have access to Asana and only need to see progress of a project and maybe add comments. I agree also that the read only view link solution doesn’t offer enough flexible to use as alternative because it doesn’t allow for custom fields to be surfaced. The choice at moment is very black & white, we have to either fork for full licence or create manually way to keep Directors. Head of function etc informed.

Suggestion to Asana:

Create a viewer only permission and/or Commentator only permission against the user profile (controlled by admin) not the project itself. This could them treat the organisation users like a guest and give them read only access for example to projects, dashboards etc across the system, without taking up a licence.

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Once a Super Admin selects which upgrade option to do - either Increase Access or let the Project Admins decide. How long till we see the prompt (purple bar) to update the project preferences?

Asking so I know roughly when to expect it so I can announce it to my Project Admins.

In the former case, I think the notice will go away almost immediately since you’ll have cleared the conflict.

In the latter, I think on 4/30 when Asana turns on its changes.

Thanks,

Larry