Zoho Projects Permission Sets: Default Module Permissions

Zoho Projects divides profile permissions into three levels: portal, project, and module. This article covers the Default Module Permissions for user profiles, which control what a profile can do with the core modules in every project across the portal.

Two rules worth knowing first: only Portal Owners can add Admins to a portal, and portal-level permissions can be granted only to user profiles, not client profiles. Project owners also have every permission inside their own project, whatever their profile says.

How the Options Work

Most module permissions offer a scope rather than a simple on or off:

All. Every item in the module.
Related. Only items the user is connected to (plus unassigned items for tasks and issues).
Added, Owned, or Both. Only items the user created, only items assigned to them, or either.
None. No access for that action.

Tasks

Permission	Options	What it covers
View	All, Related, None	Which tasks the profile can see. All also unlocks task reports, chart view, and the phase Gantt.
Add	On or off	Adding tasks, plus copying tasks and adding subtasks.
Edit	All, Both, Added, Owned, None	Which tasks can be edited. All also allows bulk updates and setting dependencies between any tasks.
Delete	All, Both, Added, Owned, None	Which tasks can be deleted.
Reorder, Add follower	On or off	Reordering tasks and adding followers.
Preview and Associate Blueprint	On or off	Previewing and associating blueprints on tasks.

Visibility catch: setting task View to Related in any project changes what appears under Overview, then Tasks: only related and unassigned tasks across all projects will show. Users with Added, Owned, or Both edit permission can also edit unassigned tasks. To see the Planned vs Actual report, a profile needs All on both task view and time log view.

Task Lists and Phases

Task lists. View, Add, Edit, Delete, and Reorder are on or off across the portal. View also allows following and commenting; Add allows choosing from task templates; Edit allows moving and associating task lists.
Phases. View and Add are on or off, and View also allows following and commenting. Edit and Delete offer All, Owned, or None, and All edit permission also lets the user reorder and move phases.

Issues

Issues follow the same pattern as tasks. View is All, Related, or None; Edit and Delete are All, Both, Added, Owned, or None; Add includes cloning issues; and there is a separate Add follower permission. All view permission unlocks issue reports and linked-issue views. All edit permission additionally allows flagging issues as internal or external, moving them, editing titles and descriptions, and linking issues.

Time Logs

View, Add, Edit, and Delete each offer All, Owned, or None. When User Hierarchy is enabled in the portal's User Settings, Subordinates and Direct Reports appear as extra options. There is also a separate Approve permission, which does not apply to client users. All view permission unlocks the time log reports; All edit permission allows filtering My Time Logs by assignee and accessing client and project reports.

Feed Status

Add is on or off. Edit and Delete apply to a user's own feed status only, or none.

Where the Rest Lives

The same Permission Sets page in Zoho's help centre also covers custom module permissions, comments, import and export, mobile device controls, reports and dashboards, portal and settings permissions, integration permissions (Zoho Invoice, WorkDrive, Sprints, Flow), field permissions, client profiles, and the fixed system profiles (Viewer, Read-only, and Lite User on the Ultimate plan). System profiles other than Lite User cannot be modified.

Zoho's own Permission Sets page is the definitive reference and is updated as Zoho changes permissions, so check it for the exact current options.

Need help? 1 Cloud Consultants can help you design Zoho Projects profiles and permissions so each person sees and changes only what they should. Book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.