Managello lets you decide how much of your project list each staff role can see. This is a staff-to-staff control — it's separate from what clients see in their portal, which is always walled to their own work. Use it when you want managers or team members to focus only on the projects they're actually working on.
The two visibility modes
Each role can be set to one of two modes:
- Every project — the person sees all projects in the workspace. This is the default for every role.
- Only their projects — the person sees a project only if they've been added to it as a member, or they have a task assigned to them inside it.
You'll find these settings on the project visibility screen, with a separate choice for Managers and for Members.
Administrators always see everything
Admins are hard-locked to Every project and can't be restricted — that's the fixed "Administrators always see every project" rule shown at the top of the screen. This is enforced on the server, not just hidden in the interface, so there's no way to accidentally wall an admin out of a project.
People always see projects they create or are assigned to
A common worry: "If I set Managers to 'Only their projects', will a manager lose access to a project the moment they create it?"
No. When anyone creates a project, they're automatically added to it as a member in the same step. Because "Only their projects" is defined as projects you've been added to, plus anything assigned to you, the creator always passes the wall and keeps access on the very next screen. That creator membership is even non-removable — it can't be taken away by accident.
The same is true for assignments: give someone a task in a project and that project appears for them, even under "Only their projects."
What the setting actually restricts
Turning on "Only their projects" does not stop anyone from creating projects or seeing their own. What it changes is this: a restricted person no longer sees other people's projects that they haven't been added to and have no task in.
Here's the practical effect when Managers are set to "Only their projects":
| Who | Sees a project a manager just created? |
|---|---|
| The manager who created it | ✅ Yes — auto-added as a member |
| Administrators | ✅ Yes — always |
| Another manager (on "Only their projects") | ❌ No — unless added to it or assigned a task |
| Team members (on "Only their projects") | ❌ No — unless added or assigned |
Need one person to be an exception?
If you want a specific individual to see everything (or to be restricted) regardless of their role's default, set it directly on their profile. Look for the "Need an exception for one person? Set it on their profile" option at the bottom of the visibility screen — a per-person override always wins over the role default.
Good to know
- Adding someone as a project member is the reliable way to grant access under "Only their projects" — it doesn't depend on them having a task yet.
- Project contents (time logs, comments, files) follow the same visibility rule, so restricting a project restricts what's inside it too.
- Money fields on a project are governed separately by financial permissions, so visibility and financial access are two independent controls.