Access Rules let you grant a user's agency and client permissions once, then keep them updated automatically as your organization grows — instead of manually adding every new agency or client to a user's profile.
💡 This article covers Access Rules and the related Elevate feature. For the original way of manually selecting individual clients, see How to edit users permissions.
Why Access Rules
Access Rules let you define a user's access using your organization's structure — Network, Market, Agency and Client — instead of individual checkboxes. This is especially useful for access that follows a structural pattern, like "everyone in our Chile agencies" or "all clients under this Network, plus one extra client we share with another team." Once a rule is set up, new agencies and clients that match it are picked up automatically, so the user's access stays current as your structure grows.
The three rule types
Relationship rule — grants access to a node in your hierarchy (a network, market, or region) and everything underneath it. Best for broad, structural access such as "all agencies in this market."
Branch rule — grants access to a specific agency and the clients under it.
Company rule — grants direct access to one specific client, wherever it sits in the hierarchy. Useful for "plus one extra client" scenarios.
Note: Rule conditions autocomplete against your account's actual Networks, Markets, Agencies and Clients — but the dropdown shows everything in your account, not just items that make sense together. Selecting the wrong agency (for example, when two agencies have similar names in different parts of your structure) can silently create a rule that matches nothing. Double-check names carefully.
Combining conditions with AND / OR
A single rule can combine several conditions:
+ Add condition adds another requirement to the same group — all conditions in a group must match (AND).
+ Add OR group adds a completely separate alternative — the user gets access if any group matches (OR).
Example:
Network = Meridian Network AND Market = United States
— OR —
Network = Meridian Network AND Market = Canada
This grants access to every agency (and its clients) under Meridian Network in either the US or Canada — but not agencies under Meridian Network in other markets, and not other networks in the US or Canada.
Step by step: setting up Access Rules for a user
1. Go to → Manage Users
Locate the user, then open the Rules column on their row.
2. Add your first condition
Choose a rule type (Relationship, Branch, or Company) and the matching value from the autocomplete list.
3. Combine conditions as needed
Use + Add condition to narrow the current group (AND), or + Add OR group to add a separate alternative (OR).
4. Save the rule
Saving only stores the criteria — it does not change the user's access yet.
5. Apply the rule
When you're ready for the change to take effect, click Apply Rules. This recalculates the user's agency and client access based on everything currently saved.
Important: Applying rules replaces the user's existing agency and client access with whatever the rules currently produce. If a rule doesn't match any agency or client yet (for example, you've set it up ahead of an agency being created), the user will end up with no access until a match exists. It's fine to save rules ahead of time — just only apply them once you're ready for the access change to happen.
Elevating a user
Elevating moves a user's starting point up your hierarchy — from a single agency up to a market or network — so future access, whether from Access Rules or manual grants, applies from that higher level.
1. Open the user's profile in Manage Users
2. Click their current level next to Elevate User
Choose a new starting point from the list of levels shown.
💡 You can only elevate a user up to your own permission level — you can't grant someone access to a level you can't see yourself.
Good to know
Access Rules and Elevate work alongside the existing manual client permissions — see How to edit users permissions for the manual approach.
Rule changes are always a two-step process: Save, then Apply Rules.
Once applied, new agencies or clients that match a saved rule are added automatically — no need to revisit the user each time your structure grows.