Member Groups are the best way to manage access efficiently across your team, especially as you grow. However, there may be times when you need to give a specific individual access to a Subject, Document, or Learning Path outside their usual group permissions.
That’s where Permission Overrides come in. They allow you to fine-tune access for a single user—overriding any group-based permissions to increase or decrease permissions.
✨ While overrides offer flexibility when needed, we’ve found that teams relying primarily on Groups experience smoother scaling and easier permission management. So, we always recommend using Member Groups as your default approach and turning to overrides only when necessary.
In this guide, we'll walk you through setting overrides in Waybook, as well as spotting and resetting overrides.
How Overrides Work
Waybook automatically applies the highest permission level when a team member is in multiple groups with access to the same document (either directly or through its subject).
For example, if a team member is in the "Marketing Team" group with read access to the "Brand Guidelines Handbook", but is also in the "Management Team" group with edit access to the same document, they will receive edit permission.
This ensures your team members always have the right level of access—without conflicting group settings causing issues.
Understanding Permission Hierarchy
Permissions overrides in Waybook follow a clear structure, where the most specific setting always applies:
Document-level permissions override Subject-level permissions.
Subject-level permissions override Learning Path permissions.
This structure gives you the flexibility to control access at every level, ensuring your team has exactly what they need—no more, no less.
Document-Specific Access
Let’s say you have a team member in a Read Only group for the “Sales Playbooks” subject. However, you want this person to collaborate on a single document within that subject – the “Outbound Sales Script.” You can grant Edit access to this specific document. This document-level override means the team member can edit the “Outbound Sales Script” while the rest of the “Sales Playbooks” subject remains Read Only.
Similarly, if a Learning Path includes Documents a user is not required to complete, it will be shown as reference-only within the path.
✨ Learn more about managing completion requirements with the Requires Completion setting.
Viewing and Resetting Overrides
To review and manage overrides, you can check permissions in either your Member Settings (for individuals or Member Groups) or your content's Access Settings:
Member Settings: View and manage permissions overrides for an individual team member or within a Member Group.
Access Settings: Navigate to a Subject or Document’s access settings to see any overrides applied to individuals.
Resetting Overrides
If an override needs to be removed, simply press the Reset button (to the right of the Requires Completion toggle) to clear the override and revert to the original group-based setting.
This applies to both access permissions and completion requirements. For example, turning off completion requirement for a specific user is treated as an override. If you later need to reapply the group’s default setting, you’ll need to reset the override.
Resetting ensures that permissions and requirements stay clear, consistent, and easy to manage, giving you better control across your team.
Why Overrides Matter
Overrides provide the flexibility needed to manage permissions effectively in different scenarios:
Granular Control – Adjust access for specific users without altering broader group settings.
Adaptability – Ensure users have the right permissions based on evolving needs.
Consistency – Maintain structured access while allowing exceptions where necessary.
By leveraging overrides, you can ensure your team members have precisely the level of access they need—no more, no less.
✨ Learn more about how roles and permissions work in Waybook here.
Permissions can be one of the trickiest areas for any growing business to get right. If you ever want help setting up your groups and access in Waybook, we’re here to help.
You can book a training call with our team to walk through your setup, or simply reach out to your account manager or the Waybook support team with any questions. We’ll make sure your permissions are working perfectly for your team.