Workspaces and User Roles

The Problem

Previously, the platform had a single user <> single workspace implementation. It was not possible to add more users to the same workspace, nor to join another shared workspace with the same email. That implementation had limits due to a lack of account management and a general lack of flexibility to manage multiple workspaces at once.

Due to common security practices, organizations do not want to have shared user accounts, instead they need a solution to have a team of people who work on the same network. Workspaces make that possible!

The Solution

Now, Syntropy Stack supports multiple users in the same workspace and enables usage by both individual and enterprise users. Users can belong to multiple workspaces, being able to manage those workspaces and vice versa - a workspace to be managed by multiple users at once.

How it works?

The new workspaces solution consists of these building blocks:

  • Personal vs. Organization workspaces — Users are able to have their personal workspaces, as well as can belong to one or more other shared organization workspaces.
  • Users have the ability to create a shared organization workspace (different workspaces can be set for different stages - e.g. testing, staging, production).
  • Workspace admins have the ability to manage its settings, and user roles (admin, user, viewer).
  • Users are able to invite others to join a shared organization workspace.
  • Users can switch to a different workspace they belong to.

Platform Security

Two-Factor Authentication

We take security very seriously. Syntropy Stack supports 2FA for accounts, and with the introduction of workspaces, we give admins the ability to require 2FA for all workspace users, to ensure the highest level of security. When enabled, all workspace users and invitees are required to enable 2FA for their accounts in order to join the workspace. Here you can find a quick guide on how to setup 2FA step by step.

User Roles

  • Viewer — is able to see everything in the workspace, but cannot create, delete or edit anything.
  • User — is able to fully manage the network and has full visibility in the workspace, but cannot manage users.
  • Admin — has full privileges for network management in addition to user management as well (invite new users, set roles, delete users, etc.).

Create a new workspace

By default, all registered users have a Default workspace. Consider this as your personal workspace, however you can rename, delete or invite others to it. To create a new workspace, simply click the user menu top right, then click the plus button.

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Once you click the plus button, a new dialog box opens to name your workspace, put a name, and click Create.

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After the Create button is clicked, the dialog box updates with the result, saying the new workspace has been created successfully! Now you can click Done to close that dialog or click Switch to new workspace if you want to.

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Switch to another workspace

You can switch between workspaces easily anytime with a single step, just open the user menu top right corner, then under workspaces select which workspace you want to switch to.

List workspace users and remove or change user roles

To list and manage workspace users, you can follow the following easy steps: open the top right corner user menu > under Settings and click on Workspace.

The page you'll see will list existing workspace users, with their roles, 2FA status, join date, and ability to remove them from the workspace, or change their role to something else. You have three different roles for different access levels.

List workspace invitees and revoke or resend invitations

Similar to how you listed workspace users, you can click on the Invited tab on the same page, which will list all users you invited to join the workspace, but they didn't join yet. You'll also have the ability to revoke or resend the invitation, in addition to changing their roles as well.

Invite users to a workspace

In order to invite users to join the workspace, you can click on Invite members upright the table, write the email addresses you want to invite, and select which role you want to grant.

Rename or Delete an existing workspace

You may want to rename the workspace, or delete it if you no longer need it, and to do these operations, on the workspace settings page, you can click the three dots '…' beside the workspace name, and you'll have both rename and delete options there.

Accept or reject a workspace invitation

When users get invited to join a workspace, they will get an email message and will see the invitation on their platform notifications menu. When clicked, they will be able to accept or reject the invitation. Once accepted, they will automatically join the workspace with the role they have been granted.

Manage workspace settings

Last but not least, workspace admins can change their settings. Currently, workspace settings have one option which is Require 2FA to access the workspace, where it could be turned on or off. In case it's turned on, all workspace users and invitees are required to enable 2FA for their accounts in order to join the workspace.