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Advanced Permissions: Sharing Rules

Updated

Sharing rules cut across the role hierarchy, granting viewing access by record type to people the hierarchy would otherwise exclude.

On this page:

Why they exist

A role hierarchy is vertical: it shares upward. Some record types need to be shared sideways, among users at the same level or in unrelated parts of the hierarchy. Sharing rules are the exception mechanism for exactly that.

For example, you can have a sharing rule that lets two manager roles view each other’s leads as well as the leads of the people reporting up to either of them. Another rule might let three people in a salesperson role view each other’s opportunities to help prevent the creation of duplicates.

ℹ️ You can only use roles and sharing rules when a record type is set to private under organization-wide sharing.

Configuring a sharing rule

To set up a sharing rule:

  1. Go to System Settings > Sharing Rules.
  2. Click Add New Rule.
  3. Enter a name for the rule. Include a description of the roles you’ll be selecting, like “Operations and Finance Managers” or “Salespeople.” If you create many rules, this helps you find it later.
  4. Select the record type you would like to share.
  5. Tick the checkboxes for the role or roles that will share this record type. You won’t be able to select roles that have no one assigned to them.
  6. Click Save. A confirmation message appears at the top of the page and the new sharing rule appears in the list.

ℹ️ Roles higher in the hierarchy can already view records owned by the roles reporting to them. Selecting reporting roles and their manager roles lets people in the roles below view records owned by and assigned to their managers.

Navigating to Sharing Rules in System Settings — The screenshot shows the Insightly CRM System Settings menu with a red arrow pointing to the “Sharing Rules” option under the Security section. This helps users locate the Sharing Rules feature, which controls how data is shared across the organization.

1 Navigating to Sharing Rules in System Settings

 Adding a New Sharing Rule in Insightly — The Sharing Rules settings page is shown with an empty rules list and an arrow pointing to the “Add New Rule” button in the top right corner. This helps users understand where to click to create a new sharing rule that controls visibility of records across their organization.

2 Adding a New Sharing Rule in Insightly

 Add Sharing Rule Dialog Box in Insightly — This screenshot shows the “Add Sharing Rule” dialog where users can name a sharing rule and select an object type to share, then assign access by checking roles in an organizational hierarchy. Understanding this interface helps users control which team members, such as Sales Managers or Directors, can view specific records like Tasks or Opportunities.

3 Add Sharing Rule Dialog Box in Insightly
Add Sharing Rule Object Type Dropdown Menu — The screenshot shows the “Add Sharing Rule” dialog in Insightly CRM, with the “Object Type To Share” dropdown expanded to reveal options including Task, Contact, Organization, Lead, Opportunity, Project, Email, Note, Event, and Phone Call, with “Lead” currently highlighted. This helps users understand which CRM object types can be selected when creating a sharing rule to control data access across roles.

4 Add Sharing Rule Object Type Dropdown Menu

 Add Sharing Rule Dialog for Opportunities — The Add Sharing Rule dialog shows a rule named “Sales Team Opportunities” configured to share the Opportunity object type, with Director of Sales and Salesperson roles selected via checkboxes from a list of six roles. This matters because it illustrates how administrators can grant specific roles access to opportunity records by checking the appropriate boxes before saving the rule.

5 Add Sharing Rule Dialog for Opportunities

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