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How access control works

Access control decides what every person can see and do in your community. In Bonfire it comes from two inputs combined at the space and page level: a member's role and their paid tier.

Roles

Every member has one role:

  • Owner — full control, including billing and branding. Created when the community is created.
  • Admin — manages spaces, members, courses, gamification, and modules via the Admin panel. Cannot manage billing/ownership.
  • Member — participates in the community: reads and posts where their access allows.

Roles are assigned and changed under Admin → Members.

If you monetize, members can hold a paid tier (for example "Free", "Pro", "Patron"). A tier is independent of role — a member can be on any tier. Tiers are how you gate premium spaces, channels, and courses without making someone an admin.

How a decision is made

When a member opens a space, channel, course, or custom page, Bonfire checks the access rule set on that item:

  1. Is it visible to everyone, members only, or restricted?
  2. If restricted, does the member's role or paid tier match the requirement?

Channels inherit their space's rule, so you set access once per space and it applies to everything inside it. Custom pages and courses carry their own access rule.

Principle: gate content with tiers, grant management with roles. Don't make someone an admin just to give them premium access.

Related

  • Spaces vs space groups
  • Create spaces and channels
  • Custom pages

FAQ

Can a member be admin of just one space? No. Admin is community-wide. Scope content access with tiers and space rules instead.

How do members get a paid tier? By purchasing or being granted one. Member payments run through Stripe using the owner's connected Stripe account (set up in Admin → Payment Setup), with a 0% platform fee from Bonfire — Stripe's standard processing fees apply.

What happens when a member's subscription lapses? They lose access to tier-gated spaces, channels, and courses, and keep access to anything open to all members.

Can the AI Owner Copilot change permissions? The Copilot can perform admin actions like creating channels or inviting admins, each behind a confirmation gate and recorded in the audit log.